Story Spheres
The tools to create a 360 Virtual Reality tour and now within the reach of the rest of us. In Episode 27. Creating 360 VR Story Sphere of my Training Tips Weekly (TTW) series (lynda.com | LinkedIn Learning), I walk you through step by step how to create the first scene of the Story Sphere on this page.
Story Spheres is a project that was first created by Grumpy Sailor and Google Labs. It lets you upload a 360 image and then place hot spot links to audio files inside of the 360 world. You learners can then click or touch the hot spots inside of the world and listen to the files. Story Spheres are an experimental tool, so the viewers experience will greatly depend on the platform and browser they are using to access the sphere on. It is a good idea to check the project’s FAQ page to learn about what browsers and platforms are supported and that limitations exist.
What drew me to this technology was how easy it is to create a virtual world that allows the learner to explore on their own and hear engaging descriptions of different objects in the world. The ability to link multiple story spheres together really opens up the instructional capacity of the this technology.
I first became aware of Story Spheres when the team from Grinnell College Immersive Experiences Lab reached out to me about TTW Episode 21. Getting Started with AR, VR, 360 (lynda.com | LinkedIn Learning). As I was poking around on their site I ran across a Story Sphere virtual tour of their labs. I quickly reached back out to the team there and asked what they had used to create the tour and how it was being used. After some back and forth they suggested I create an episode of TTW to walk users through the creation of their own Story Sphere.
Example of a Story Sphere. Learn how to create your own story sphere in my Training Tips Weekly series on lynda.com and LinkedIn Learning.
