Computer Graphics World

8 October 2008 Preserving the Past A round the world, there are certain places or struc- tures—natural or manmade—of overwhelming cultur- al or aesthetic value to the common heritage of humanity. The Great Wall of China. The Statue of Liber- ty. The Taj Mahal. The Historic Centre of St. Petersburg. Chichen Itza. The Persepolis. The Pyramids of Giza. Those are but a few of the more than 850 designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, international locales designated for preservation so they can be appreciated by future generations. Despite being named to this list and receiving the attention of some of the world's foremost scientists and archaeologists, some of these World Heritage Sites are in danger of disappearing forever. Other sites are located in far-off lands, making it virtually impossible for the majority of people to ever drink in their mystique and wonder. Of late, photographers have been document- ing these territories and structures, preserving their beauty for all to enjoy, whether for this generation or those to come. One photo or a series of photos offer but a small look at one of these structures or areas. With that in mind, Belgian photographer Tito Dupret, along with Bijuan Chen, founded WHTour.org, an independent nonprofi t organization that has been documenting the UNESCO World Heritage List with a series of panographies that provide a stunning 360-degree virtual tour of these remarkable sites, made possible through the use of computer software. Currently, the group has visited a majority of the areas of interest, and 300 of them are available on the WHTour.org Web site at www.world-heritage-tour.org. The majority of locations featured on the Web site are designated World Heritage Sites, while a small percentage are listed on the World Monuments Fund Watch List. Several dozen other locales were included by WHTour.org because of their historic, natural, or national value. During the seven years already committed to this valu- able project, Dupret has helped produce some of the most impressive panographies ever seen of some of the most historic, rare, and often unreachable sites from across the planet—in full-color, full-screen splendor. From China, Tanzania, Indonesia, Iran, and India to Egypt and most recently the Middle East, each of Dupret's panographies is produced with the aid of Stitcher Unlimited, panorama assembling software originally from RealViz (which was recently acquired by Autodesk). Stitcher is a photo-stitching and image assembling soft- ware for the creation of professional-level panoramas and 360-degree virtual tours. Starting from digital images, the software's automatic stitching engine enables users to create high-quality panoramas, large-format prints, matte paintings, refl ection maps, and textures for fi lm and televi- sion, as well as dynamic virtual tours for the real estate and tourism industries. "For the past 15 months, I have not published a single image," explains Dupret. That's because approximately eight of those months were spent shooting 80 new World Heritage Sites, while an additional seven months were needed to build the organization's new site and to post- WHTour.org, a nonprofi t organization, enables people from all over the world to enjoy panographies providing 360-degree virtual tours of many UNESCO World Heritage sites.

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