Friday, November 4, 2011

A 360º Panoramic Video Mountain Bike Ride Through Moab

Moab, Utah is considered one of the best places to go mountain biking in the U.S. – if not the world. There are an abundance of trails for a variety of skill levels and the views are simply spectacular. One of the more popular of those trails is Slickrock, a 13-mile long loop that offers a significant physical and technical challenge. In short, it isn't a trail for beginners.

For those of us who haven't had the opportunity to ride Slickrock, there is a great new panoramic interactive video that allows us to check it out for ourselves. The video was made by three men – Joergen Geerds, Dan Finkler and Mark Sevenoff– who used six Sony Xperia Android phones to capture the entire 360º view around them as they rode. The result is a very cool interactive video that allows you to switch views, pan and zoom, and generally experience the entire ride without fear of crashing.

You can check out this amazing interactive video by clicking here. I've also embedded another video below which gives you an idea of what the project was all about and how it was made, using rather simple technology. It's an interesting piece, but really only sets the stage for the interactive version, which will keep you entertained for some time. Be sure to switch between the various views. The "Little Planet" option is especially trippy.