User:Helen roundme/sandbox

Roundme is a 360-degree panorama publishing and virtual tour authoring app platform for the web, iOS and Android headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It helps to create a 360 view of the place which was discovered, explore different locations across the world through Hotspots and share them with the community (contributors, travelers and photographers) through Portals.

After Roundme was officially released on 17 June 2014, it gained popularity worldwide and now has 40,000 of active users with more than 1,500 uploaded panoramas every day.

The main objective of Roundme Service - to provide user with the most simple and convenient mechanism for creating and browsing virtual tours. Roundme app was announced Appstore “Best New Apps” feature in more than 58 countries. It is distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Support for the app is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch . Roundme was featured on the Washington Post, Techcrunch, The Next Web, CNET and others.

Early years
Roundme was founded in June 2012 by its acting CEO and Co-founder Konstantin Andreev. The idea was born while Konstantin was working in the real estate market. He wasn’t satisfied with traditional methods of showcasing property listings (using only high-quality photos) and visiting the sites individually. With the appearance of virtual tours it became quicker and easier to see a property both inside and out. After trying several prototypes, together with a team of developers Konstantin came up with the idea to create a new web-based user-friendly solution called Roundme.

The Roundme existence started with introducing the concept of Spaces - a set of panoramic images linked through Portals and filled with informational and multimedia content in Hotspots. Konstantin Andreev (CEO) told TechCrunch that his goal was to create a virtual tour experience in the panoramic photography marketplace: "“The idea was to develop a simple to use app whereby real estate and photography professionals could present their portfolios directly to any consumer in a seamless experience that included hosting, sharing, search capabilities, location awareness and social reach.”"

Growth and expansion
The company started expanding globally after it announced its first online free web application on June 17, 2014. By 2015 Roundme community enumerates more that 20,000 users worldwide. In April 2015 Roundme offered its users an option to sign up and create a personal account, where iPhones panoramas can be uploaded. Later Roundme offered an option of text, video, and graphics usage.

By late summer 2015 Roundme announced a new Directional sounds feature update. Judging by the name the sound becomes directional and the viewer can understand what part of the panorama the sound comes from. In addition, it allows Roundme user to narrative tracks, background sounds, and soundtracks with new panoramas. Directional sounds specifications supports mp3 files no greater than 5MB in size, and no more than three sound clips per panorama. In the beginning of fall 2015 Roundme explorers provided for Google Cardboard support. People also were able to use other VR headsets, such as the Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR. To explore different uploaded panoramas a Roundme user should tap it, turn the iPhone sideways, tap the Google Cardboard icon, slip the phone inside the headset and watch appeared panorama. The user`s view moves together with the movements.

In October 2015 Roundme has announced its release on Android. In addition, Roundme incorporated social media interactivity where users can communicate with each other, like, comment, follow, share and embed content on social media and websites.

Recent status
Today Roundme is cloud based and mobile ready free application. It has more than 40,000 users around the globe with more than 5,000 customer base. According to internal company`s statistics more than 50,000 tours were created and more than 150,000 panoramas uploaded.

The app is available in web, iOS and Android platforms. On February 22, 2016 Roundme released the latest 0.8 version of the app accompanied by the updated on May 25, 2016.

Future plans
In 2016 Roundme plans to proceed developing the Roadmap feature with the current status of v.0.8. It includes:
 * v.1.0 Pro Account, Space Upgrades (Pro Embed, Privacy&White List, Custom Maps), launch of marketing campaign.
 * v.1.1 Space Upgrades (Advanced Hotspots), Custom UI, Stereo Panoramas.
 * v1.2 Request System.
 * v1.3 Licensing Platform.

Core functionality
Roundme app work is based on the principle of user-submitted, panoramic photos, which the service calls "Spaces." Spaces are connected through Portals. Portals are points of interest that simplify navigation and search through Spaces. The size and positioning of a Portal can be adjusted by Roundme users personally. Using Portals, users freely travel around virtual Spaces and learn things concluded in Information Hotspots. Each Space can also have Space Maps, Sounds and other useful features, which allow users to explore spaces all over the world.

Explore
"Explore" section of the app offers core categories: “Best New” uploaded Spaces; “Editors Picks”; constantly updated “Collection” of panoramic photos sorted by theme, location, or idea  and “Recent”  user-submitted panoramas. Four Roundme categories serve to give a Roundme explorer an opportunity to present the content and attract more viewers.

By several clicks a Roundme user can learn the key information about each Space, for example, when it was loaded and where. There is share, comment and/or like function available at any Space. Roundme user can also get to know the author of the Space individually. By mousing over any Space, a user is redirected to the profile of the photographer no matter a professional or amateur one.

Konstantin Andreev, Roundme CEO, said: “Roundme is perfect for professional panoramic photographers as well as for the average joy. We want people to see and experience a place anywhere in the world. We want to give people the opportunity to use a powerful and easy-to-use tool for creating Spaces and posting additional content, so the world around them is now more interesting and interactive.”

World map
World map exemplifies a large-scale and flat map of the world filled with Portals (appear as onscreen bubbles). Portals can transport Roundme explorer to various locations within a given Space. To move to a Portal, it is neccessary to keep it centered within the view for a few seconds until an onscreen meter fills up.

Community
By choosing the "Community" section the Roundme user get an access to a list of photographers already created their accounts. Each icon provides the basic information of user`s previous works – uploaded Spaces, numbers of ″likes″ and history of views.

Roundme PRO
In 2016 Roundme created a Pro-account which offers more useful features for professional photographers, such as the ability to upload higher quality content, multi-resolution support, safe upload and storage downloading, detailed statistics. It is also possible to add the location add links inside the panorama and share it with the Community.

To add more, Roundme offers the ability for registered professional photographers to receive bookings and get paid using the internal “photo shoot request” system. When a photographer looks for work, the “Available for Hire” should be turned on and the “Hire Me” button will appear next to the avatar.

Others
To support the Roundme PRO-account two new features were added: "Space Upgrades" and "Licensing System". "Space Upgrades" feature is a single use payment system includes functional upgrades for speciﬁc virtual tour. "Licensing System" acquires broad usage rights to content.

Company monetization
On February 2015 Roundme raised a $3 million round led by April Capital.

Revenue Streams for Roundme features include:
 * Pro Account. Subscription based bundle oﬀers advanced functionality to create higher quality content with broad usage rights, plus the ability to view proposals and create bookings. Segment 1 Pro Account customers can create higher quality content with more features and are available for hire by Segment 2 customers. Price = $100/year.
 * Space Upgrades. Single use payment functional upgrades per virtual tour. Segment 2 generates call to action demand for Space Upgrade to create purchase orders and hire Segment 1 customers. Average price = $20/tour.
 * Licensing System. Segment 3 customers grant rights to content created by Segment 1 customers through 50/50 shared license fees between Roundme and the author. Average price = $400/image.

Events
On April 28, 2015 Roundme participated at "How VR is Changing Real Estate" conference at BuildingsNY in the Vendor Solution Theater.

Later on, on 4 June 2015 the Roundme Team participated at IVRPA Prague 2015 - the annual event of the 360° Panoramic VR industry in Czech Republick.

Privacy and security
By using Roundme Service, a user agrees to "Term and Conditions" in full. These "Terms and Conditions" govern the use of the Roundme Service or any applications made available by Roundme and include description of user`s content, account as well as limitations and exclusions.