ThingLink user: FashionUnited (click to explore live page) - Virtual tours are most commonly associated with 360/VR images, videos or still images of a physical space. FashionUnited shows how ThingLink's tour creator layout expands this notion by combining any image into one unified experience. Their editorial team published an interactive map featuring highlights from the biggest European fashion trade shows in 2020. Clicking on the various icons will give viewers a deeper dive into each specific region.
ThingLink Spotlight: Interactive Map using Tour Creator from FashionUnited
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, Media, Map, Tour Creator
ThingLink Feature: Experience the Opel Arena in 360° from VRM
ThingLink user: VRM Arena Tour - VRM is a regional media company that uses ThingLink in this article to give readers the experience of touring the Opel Arena in Germany. The tour begins with an aerial view outside of the stadium and readers can click on the various illustrations to explore points of interest. For example, clicking the field will take you to a 360° view from on the field, and clicking the shopping bag will take you to explore the stadium store. This use case highlights the ability to include regular flat images into your 360° tour. Including a regular image as your starting point gives the reader an easy to navigate table of contents that they can revisit at any point within the tour.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, VR, virtual tour, 360, Media
ThingLink Feature: Interactive world map from MSF
ThingLink user: MSF - Refugees around the world: Stories of survival
Description: There are now 70.8 million people forced from home around the world—more than at any time in modern history. For World Refugee Day, MSF featured stories of survival—a collection of video testimonies and first-hand accounts from people who have risked everything for a chance at safety. Using an interactive world Map created with ThingLink, MSF allows readers to learn more about the stories that appear throughout the article through one visual table of contents.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, Media, Map
ThingLink Feature: Interactive 360° behind-the-scene tour by KiKA
ThingLink user: KiKA - Interactive 360° (created with new editor)
Description: Have you ever been tasked with the goal of providing the engaged fans of your organization with a digital behind-the-scene experience, but didn't have access to intuitive tools to help drive the project? Interactive 360° behind-the-scene tours solve this problem by giving editorial and marketing teams the power to create unique, immersive and actionable tours fast and without the need to loop in many resources.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, VR, 360, Media
ThingLink Feature: Interactive How to Cleaning Guide from TODAY Show
ThingLink user: TODAY Show - Interactive how to guide (created with new editor)
Description: The TODAY Show provides their read with a handy guide to clean everything on their checklist, room by room. Just click on the circles within each room to see the item and click "read more" to see the full story. Interactive visual storytelling within editorial content is much more engaging and provides readers with a clean user experience for discovering additional information.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, Media, Infographic
ThingLink Feature: Interactive World Map by Daily Mail
ThingLink user: Daily Mail - Interactive world map
Description: The Daily Mail uses an interactive map within their editorial article to showcase what British food favorites are missed most when moving abroad based on the most commonly exported goods from home. Depicting this type of information can be done through a chart or long list, but this far less visual and engaging. Using an interactive map allows Daily Mail to keep the article shorter and presents information in more user friendly way to readers. For example, maybe I am from Britain and living in the United States. I can instantly hover over USA on the map learn that the most common exports are Heinz Baked Beans, Warburton's Crumpets and Robinsons Squash.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, Media, Map
Image of the Week: Interactive 360° Advent Calendar from Mittelbayerische
ThingLink user: Mittelbayerische - Interactive Infographic (created with new editor)
Description: Using ThingLink's 360° image editor Mittelbayerische creates an interactive advent calendar for their readers. Each hotspot includes a variety of surprises, quizzes and Christmas stories that are opened each day. This experience is a unique way to get readers or customers engaged during the holiday season. Other interactive holiday campaigns include shoppable showrooms, seasons greeting messages from your team, and festive blog posts.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, VR, 360, Media
Image of the Week: Interactive Destination Maps from Blick
ThingLink user: Blick - Interactive Maps Microsite
Description: Blick takes their storytelling to an entirely new level with this microsite featuring nine unique interactive maps. Using ThingLink's new image editor, each map highlights a different theme for how to spend summer holiday in Switzerland. For example, one map highlights great places to spend time with family, while other maps review the best places to eat, relax and hike. Readers can educate themselves by clicking on the hotspots to learn about each destination and click to view their website. This visual experience is very engaging for viewers and replaces long-form content that is text heavy.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, Media, Map
Image of the Week: Interactive Article Introduction from Saveur
ThingLink user: Saveur - Dried Seafood of Chinatown Guide
Description: Using an interactive image is a great way to visually introduce a text-heavy article or topic. In this use case, Saveur wrote an article featuring the dried seafood of Chinatown. At the beginning of the article, Saveur embeds an image collage with ThingLink hotspots that previews the main topics of the article below. This image captures reader attention from the jump, as well as gives them a nice user experience of previewing what will be discussed. For example, maybe I am most interested in a certain fish. Using the interactive image, I can see the fish on the image and learn more about it without having to scroll through the entire article.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, Media, Images
Image of the Week: Interactive How-to Video Review from Dirt Rider
ThingLink user: Dirt Rider - 10 Items To Use When Changing A Dirt Bike Tire
Description: Dirt Rider is a digital media publisher who provides their readers with buying guides, gears and parts recommendations, and how-to content for dirt bike riding. In this specific article, Dirt Rider educates their readers with unique tips for decreasing the hassle of changing motorcycle tires and different products they recommend. While watching the how-to video, readers can learn more and purchase the ten products Dirt Rider recommends by clicking on the interactive hot spots that appear throughout the video.
Topics: Featured, Visual Web, retail, Media, Video, Product Marketing