See Jerusalem Through One of Israel's First 360-Cameras

JERUSALEM, Israel - Cutting-edge technology now allows people to see 360 degree views from some of the most beautiful places in the world. For the first time, that technology is available in Jerusalem.

It's called Panomax and Klaus Mairinger is the brain behind this new technology.

"We scan the whole panorama in one rotation so this socket is placed in a pole and the top motor is rotating the camera in one cycle time, which is done in a few seconds. And it really scans like a paper on a scanning machine," he explained to CBN News.

Mairinger first placed his system in some of Europe's most spectacular ski resorts.

"This is well known; you can see the Matterhorn," he said.

Besides the Matterhorn, Mt. Blanc and others, Panomax cameras scan the seven seas aboard various ocean liners. Wherever the location, the pictures include interactivity, an over-view map and time lapse.

A Panomax camera on the top of Jerusalem's Inbal Hotel is one of the first installed in Israel. It provides a 360 degree view of much of the Old City and the new.

"Everyone who stands here just admires the view," Inbal Hotel Vice President Alex Herman told CBN News. "A beautiful day like we have today, with the sun and having the Old City, the new city, all the way to Jordan. There's no other way to describe it."

The Inbal Hotel wanted the best way to present its view of Jerusalem on the web.

"They can click on it, they can see the entire 360 degrees view from the top of the hotel.  They can zoom in, zoom out. You want to see how the sun looked yesterday morning you can see it," Herman explained.

"It was a dream to have it there because Jerusalem is a well-known hot spot and it's really a success of the product," Mairinger said. "I like it very much."  

How would Mairinger compare a standard webcam to Panomax?

"This is like stone age to NASA. It's a completely new technology," he said. "Once you see the picture, you get addicted to it. And whenever you see a historical webcam that all others still have, you feel. 'What is it? What is it?  What can I do?' (You) just look at it and leave the page."

Mairinger said the pictures "definitely" draw people.

"This is the feedback from the guests, from my customers - that they tell them that the emotions they get from the picture, they are addicted to the pictures, and they want to visit the place more often because they are seeing how the place is now."