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Panoramic Interactive Images are images which allow one to spin around and see all sides of the scene - front, back, right and left. The images are constructed by using a special tripod to take a series of sequential photos in all directions 360 degees around a fixed point. These are then stitched together in software to create a panoramic image in which users can use their cursors to spin around.
They are very easy to use. Simply click anywhere in the photo, and hold the mouse or trackpad button down and use the mouse/trackpad to scroll to the right and left. You can also zoom in with by holding the shift key down, or zoom out by holding the control key down. It is that simple.
An special instance of this is in the Sera Monastery Aerial Panorama. This is not a full 360 degree panorama, but rather is a shot of the entire Sera monastery complex from the hill above integrated with many detailed high resolution of images of specific areas. The controls are the same as above, with the exception that you get higher resolution images as you zoom in. In addition, the upper left hand corner has an insert thumbnail image of the entire panorama with a small red box. The red box shows the part of that bigger image that is currently being viewed in the bigger image. You can also directly grab the red box by putting your cursor on it, holding your mouse/trackpad button donw, and then dragging the box. The picture being shown in the bigger image will shift to correspond to whatever area of the picture the red box is placed on.