TourBuilder Create a story on a mao

Presentation
In the next image there is the Home page. The app is not available in italian, but only in english for the moment. Note that this is a beta version and the last upgrade dates back to the 2015 and as a beta version we can assume that new services will be available soon. The app is free and there’s no need to register to visualize the tours but it’s need if you want to create one. I’d like to highlight that this is a Google service and it resembles Google Earth. The creation of a personal tour is easy and intuitive thanks to the especially highlighted buttons. The first step consists in the compilation of the user’s personal details and the name of the tour you want to create. Once the name is specified, it’s time to choose and position the stages of your tour. The first page gives an introduction and it’s followed by the actual stages. For each stage, Tour Builder allows you to add a gallery with 25 images or videos and write a description. Each stage can be seen in different dimension by the user through the “type of story” option. A further option allows you to choose the route colour, which is normally yellow, as like as the placemarks’ icons. If you want to edit an uncompleted work you go on “my tour” page, select the tour you want to work on and select “edit” from the drop-down menu top right. Once the tour is completed, the user can see the finished work pushing on “done editing” top right. At this point all authoring tools will disappear and it’s possible to browse independently through the use of the “Next” and “Back” buttons under each stage description. The product achieved, stays private till the user’s publication. A finished tour look like this: It’s also possible to create a 3D tour. As a Google application, tour builder takes advantages from other apps to create 3D tours. So which app better than Google Earth. This is the only way to create a 3 dimensions tour especially because some browsers do not support specific editing options needed by these tours. What can you do in adjunct with 3D tours? The placemarks are not positioned on a flat surface but, as shown in the example above, they can be placed in a specific point in the space, which makes the tour even more realistic. Street view is the best solution if you don’t want to use Google Earth because it shows the same interface as Google Maps. Of course it’s not the same as 3D, because the placemark will be placed on a flat surface but it’s possible to see what’s actually there in that place.