NSU Web site features Northeastern 360° images

Offering web visitors an interactive opportunity to see the Northeastern State University campus and learn of its history, the Northeastern 360 interactive panorama page is now available.

Northeastern 360 is especially useful to prospective students as a tool to explore NSU. The panoramas allow them to virtually tour places on campus. Images can be rotated using a mouse or the controls at the bottom of the individual panaromas.

Viewers can move around a 360-degree picture and zoom in and out, said Pete Henshaw, NSU university photographer.

Sound is included to tell the story of the panorama image. The page currently holds four interactive panoramas. These include Seminary Hall, the W. Roger Webb Educational Technology Center, football tailgating and the Sequoyah Statue in Centennial Plaza.

Henshaw said an upcoming feature of the page will be a Cherokee voiceover for the Sequoyah Statue photo, read by Kansas, OK, junior Lawrence Panther.

We asked for help from the Cherokee Language Program, Henshaw said. They suggested that Lawrence could help us. He suggested the idea of translating the entire story to Cherokee. Were hoping to eventually include Cherokee translations for many voiceovers.

The images are created using a series of photos taken at one location with an 8mm lens and a panoramic tripod head.

The tripod head is called a Nodal Ninja, Henshaw said. The tripod head is set incrementally to click the camera into place in the directions needed to capture the images for the panorama. We stitch them together to create a single immersive image. It allows the viewer to see everything in all directions from where the pictures were taken.

Henshaw said he learned how to create panoramic web images while attending the 2009 University Photographers Association of America symposium in Jamestown, N.Y.

There was a photographer named Will Yurman, who then worked for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Henshaw said. He told how to create these panoramas and add sound during his presentation. He also explained the importance of attaching a narrative to them. It seemed like an excellent way to tell the story of NSU.

He suggested creating 360 degree panoramas about NSU to university relations staff and eventually received the requisite resources.

Henshaw asked that the campus community submit suggestions for additional 360-degree photographs.

We want panoramic photos that deal with life at NSU and its history, he said. We want to include additional buildings and programs. To complete a shoot, we will need a location, a voiceover script and someone to read it.

A Flash plug-in is required to view the images. Those without the plug-in may download a free version through a link on the Northeastern 360 page.

For more information about the Northeastern 360 page or to submit photo suggestions write to Henshaw at henshaw@nsuok.edu.