panorama

A panorama is a wide, all-encompassing view of a physical space or scene, presented as a single image or as a sequence of images that cover a very broad field of view. In art and photography, panoramas are designed to reproduce the sense of space experienced when looking around a scene.

Etymology and origins: The term panorama derives from the Greek words pan, meaning all, and horama, meaning view. It was popularized in the late 18th century by the English painter Robert Barker, who opened The Panorama in London in 1787, featuring a circular painting intended to surround the spectator and provide an immersive, continuous view.

Traditional panoramas: In painting, panoramas were large-scale works often arranged on circular or cylindrical surfaces that enclosed the viewer, offering a seamless, 360-degree or near-360-degree depiction of landscapes, battles, or cityscapes. They peaked in popularity during the 19th century, before the advent of practical photography, and required substantial space, resources, and exhibition infrastructure.

Panoramic photography: With the development of photography, panoramas evolved into multi-image composites that stitch together several photographs to create a wide or full-circle view. Common formats include 180-degree and 360-degree panoramas. Projections used to display panoramas include cylindrical, equirectangular, and other mappings, with 360-degree images often used in virtual reality and immersive applications.

Applications and impact: Panoramas are used in tourism and landscape visualization, architectural and urban planning, mapping, and virtual tours. In consumer technology, panorama features are widely available on smartphones and cameras, supported by software that stitches images and enables VR-friendly viewing.