Let’s geek out for a second. Encarta’s tours used . Each node was a stitched set of photos (or early CGI) wrapped around a virtual cylinder. The navigation was hypertextual—click a rug, go to the next room.
A romantic and haunting tour. You could stand on the canal, watch pixelated water effects, and look through the stone lattice windows of the bridge. The narration explained the legend of prisoners sighing at their final view of freedom. encarta virtual tour
📍 As you turned toward a specific window or artifact, ambient sounds—like bustling market noise or wind—would fade in and out. Let’s geek out for a second
The images used in the tours were "stitched" together from multiple photographs. This created a seamless, cylindrical view. While not 3D in the modern sense (you couldn't walk through a room, only look around it), the sensation of immersion was profound for a user accustomed to static textbook photos. The navigation was hypertextual—click a rug, go to