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360-Degree Videos Capture the New Seven Wonders of the World

By Emma Taggart on December 12, 2017

Thanks to ever-evolving technology, people are now able to record 360-degree videos that provide viewers with a highly detailed, fully immersive experience. Whether it’s a special camera with multiple lenses, or seperate footage stitched together into one spherical video, viewers are able see recordings from every direction with a simple click-and-drag motion. The New York Times is taking advantage of this technology with their Daily 360 series. Every day they treat their readers and Facebook followers to must-see 360-degree videos from all over the globe, and their most recent releases showcases the “New Seven Wonders of the World.”

Located on four continents, and mostly built by ancient and medieval empires, the new wonders were chosen in 2007, when more than tens of millions of people voted in an online contest organized by the New 7 Wonders Foundation. Each architectural marvel is among the most visited tourist attractions in the world, and this series gives people the chance to “visit” them without having to fly thousands of miles. Each HD video features annotated facts and minimal illustrations to educate digital visitors.

Sites include the Great Wall of China, an epic 20,000-kilometer (12,427-mile) wall built by several Chinese emperors and dynasties between 220 B.C. and A.D. 1644; the Taj Mahal in India, one of the most recognizable architectural achievements of the Mughal empire; the city Petra in Jordan, where Hellenistic facades of ancient tombs are carved directly into the canyons; the Colosseum in Italy, the largest amphitheater of the Roman Empire built between A.D. 72-82; Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, a colossal 125-foot-tall statue of Jesus Christ on top of Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro; Chichén Itzá in Mexico, an ancient Mayan city; and Machu Picchu in Peru, the Incan settlement nestled 2,430 meters (1.5 miles) above sea level in the eastern Andes mountains.