To begin with, a virtual tour usually refers to a feature on a Web site where someone viewing a Web page can use their mouse to scroll left, right, up and down and even zoom in and out of a 360 degree scene.

LakePowell.com has some great examples of these types of virtual tours linked from its Web page: http://www.lakepowell.com/houseboats/.

Obviously, it is impossible to take a photograph that shows each direction from a single point. So, in a nutshell, the virtual tour is created by carefully taking a series of photographs while rotating full circle around a single pivot point. Then, the photos are scanned into a computer and electronically stitched together using special software.

After the stitching process is complete, you are left with one long panoramic picture showing the full 360 degrees of your scene. This complete panoramic is then viewable on a Web page by scrolling in any direction with your mouse.

This technology is hardly cutting edge. But in some cases, this can be a good thing. Because the feature has been in use for several years, the software and plugins are fairly standardized and the files can be optimized to minimize download times.

In other words, if you decide to place virtual tours on your Web site, you can feel pretty confident that most people will be able to see it.

Now, virtual tours are becoming commonplace among many types of Web sites.

Similar to the Lake Powell examples, the same style of virtual tours are becoming very popular among real estate and home builder businesses due to their unique ability to show a large area within one small part of a Web page.

Realtors or home owners can have a few virtual tours placed on their Web sites for a property and allow potential buyers to get a real feel for the home without leaving the comfort of their computer chair. But, more importantly, it allows the buyer to narrow down the options before going house to house, saving everyone time and money.

The same concept is being applied at hotels, museums, schools, corporations or any business that could benefit to having it's customers and clients see a location before physically visiting there.

There are some additional features that can be incorporated into virtual tours to enhance the user experience. For example, a hyperlink can be added within the image that would take you to another tour or Web page.

So, as you scrolled around and viewed the inside of a room in a house, you could click on a doorway and that would open up a new virtual tour of the adjacent room.

In addition to the virtual tours that look outward showing rooms or landscapes, new virtual tours can now be made that look inward at objects. For example, virtual tours can be developed for products allowing the viewer to rotate the object in any direction to view the top, bottom or any side.

This could be beneficial to anyone selling products and is already widely used by companies ranging from car manufactures to computer builders.

So, if you are looking for a more interactive way to display items or locations on your Web site, consider virtual tours as a viable option.

For more examples and information on virtual tours, visit http://www.quicktime.com.