The most popular 360 image capture app no longer exists, and as a result, I've received many requests for an alternative option. Since Google Street View was discontinued, educators and students have been asking how to capture their own 360-degree images. However, there is a fantastic alternative that was recently released by Polycam that makes the process easy and pretty accurate. With Polycam's new 360 mode, you can now take fully stitched 360 panorama images directly on your iPhone. What's more, the AI infilling techniques are used to significantly reduce the amount of time spent capturing each photo.
Capturing a full 360 is now as easy as taking a standard panorama photo in Polycam. Just spin around once in a complete circle, and the images will be stitched together seamlessly on your device in 15-20 seconds. The new 360 experience allows you to fill in uncaptured sky and ground sections with the latest AI image generators, resulting in a realistically generated texture without your feet or body as part of the capture.
Polycam also features a new background tool for other Polycam 3D captures. Notice the video above shows my 3D scan of Dene Gainey added to my 360 scan of my house. It’s pretty wild to “bring” items into a 360 space using Polycam. Additionally, you can export the 360 image to use directly on another platform like CoSpaces. This makes Polycam an excellent option for educators and students who need to capture 360 images quickly and share them to extend the project.
Steps to get started
Download the Polycam app (iOS includes this update today)
Select 360 at the bottom of the screen
Center your camera with the horizontal line and select the button to start capturing
Move slowly in a circle, trying to keep the device in the location, but rotating it to capture all around
The capture will end automatically after rotating around fully
Download or share the link to the 360 images