This paper presents an image-based approach for virtual environment navigation, which uses 360-degree cylindrical panoramic images to create a virtual environment. Unlike traditional 3D modeling and rendering methods, this approach uses real-time image processing to simulate camera movements and provides a more efficient and flexible way to navigate virtual environments. The system allows for interactive viewing of real and synthetic scenes, and includes features such as object rotation, hit-testing through orientation-independent hot spots, and the ability to display high-quality images independent of scene complexity. The system is implemented in the commercial product QuickTime VR, which is based on Apple's QuickTime digital multimedia framework. QuickTime VR supports continuous camera panning and zooming, jumping to selected points, and object rotation using frame indexing. The system uses cylindrical environment maps or panoramic images to accomplish camera rotation and allows for the creation of panoramic and object movies. The panoramic movie format includes a new track type for panoramic movies, which stores linking and additional information associated with the movie. The system also includes an authoring environment for creating panoramic and object movies, which includes tools for panoramic image stitching, hot spot marking, linking, dicing, and compression. The paper discusses the architecture, file format, authoring process, and interactive players of the VR system, as well as related work and applications of the image-based approach. The system has been used in various applications such as virtual travel, real estate property inspection, architecture visualizations, virtual museums, virtual shopping, and virtual reality games. The paper concludes that the image-based approach provides a practical solution for creating and interacting with virtual environments, and that the system meets most of the objectives outlined in the introduction. The system is efficient, requires no special hardware, and can accommodate both real and synthetic scenes. However, the system has limitations such as the requirement for static scenes and movement confined to particular points. The paper also discusses future directions for the image-based approach, including the use of time-varying environment maps and the combination of image warping and 3D rendering to enhance the system's capabilities.This paper presents an image-based approach for virtual environment navigation, which uses 360-degree cylindrical panoramic images to create a virtual environment. Unlike traditional 3D modeling and rendering methods, this approach uses real-time image processing to simulate camera movements and provides a more efficient and flexible way to navigate virtual environments. The system allows for interactive viewing of real and synthetic scenes, and includes features such as object rotation, hit-testing through orientation-independent hot spots, and the ability to display high-quality images independent of scene complexity. The system is implemented in the commercial product QuickTime VR, which is based on Apple's QuickTime digital multimedia framework. QuickTime VR supports continuous camera panning and zooming, jumping to selected points, and object rotation using frame indexing. The system uses cylindrical environment maps or panoramic images to accomplish camera rotation and allows for the creation of panoramic and object movies. The panoramic movie format includes a new track type for panoramic movies, which stores linking and additional information associated with the movie. The system also includes an authoring environment for creating panoramic and object movies, which includes tools for panoramic image stitching, hot spot marking, linking, dicing, and compression. The paper discusses the architecture, file format, authoring process, and interactive players of the VR system, as well as related work and applications of the image-based approach. The system has been used in various applications such as virtual travel, real estate property inspection, architecture visualizations, virtual museums, virtual shopping, and virtual reality games. The paper concludes that the image-based approach provides a practical solution for creating and interacting with virtual environments, and that the system meets most of the objectives outlined in the introduction. The system is efficient, requires no special hardware, and can accommodate both real and synthetic scenes. However, the system has limitations such as the requirement for static scenes and movement confined to particular points. The paper also discusses future directions for the image-based approach, including the use of time-varying environment maps and the combination of image warping and 3D rendering to enhance the system's capabilities.