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How a 19th-century real estate agent pioneered the virtual tour
Researchers say Brooks and Green used cosmoramas for property viewings for 20 years before photography became standard in real estate marketing.
- University of Exeter researchers discovered that Brooks and Green, a London estate agent, created the world's first "digital walk-through" 160 years ago using immersive "peepshow" technology called a cosmorama to showcase properties.
- Located on Old Bond Street near the Cosmorama Rooms of Regent Street, the firm offered these immersive views until at least 1859, allowing prospective buyers to experience virtual travel before photography existed.
- John Plunkett, an expert in 19th-century visual media, noted "For half a century, the cosmorama was one of the most common forms of visual show across Europe and the Americas." The research catalogued over 650 cosmoramas in Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
- Brooks and Green pioneered the virtual tour over 150 years before digital technology would fully realize this potential, as the founding of specialized estate agents set in motion a professional approach to marketing property.
- Published in Early Popular Visual Culture, the study explores the cosmorama's contribution to show-business development, with insights emerging through the European research project CURIOSITAS: Peeping Before Virtual Reality investigating visual technology history.
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32 Articles
32 Articles
19th century real estate agents used ‘peepshow’ technology to sell glitzy mansion
Cosmoramas were an 1840s version of Zillow—but with paintings. The post 19th century real estate agents used ‘peepshow’ technology to sell glitzy mansion appeared first on Popular Science.
·Miami, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources32
Leaning Left5Leaning Right8Center16Last UpdatedBias Distribution55% Center
Bias Distribution
- 55% of the sources are Center
55% Center
L 17%
C 55%
R 28%
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