PanoShard 360 Framework
A Unity framework for gigapixel 360° panoramas with tile streaming and WebGL support
The complete framework for crafting high-fidelity, navigable 360° worlds inside Unity
Performance-First Design: PanoShard keeps gigapixel imagery crisp through dynamic mesh tessellation, LRU caching, and smart fade transitions. Try the free version, explore the WebGL demos, and dial in quality presets per device.
Live Demos
ELT Observatory
Visit the construction site of the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile. Gigapixel panoramas, tile streaming, and hotspot storytelling all in one scene.
Cerro Pachón
Explore the observatories on Cerro Pachón in a gigapixel 360 tour. Visit each telescope separately, listen to the audio guide, and immerse yourself in wonders of human technologies. Source code available.
Product Showcase
Interactive 360° product presentation environment featuring the PanoShard logo. See how guided steps, video hotspots, and branded UI can turn panoramas into memorable showrooms.
See It In Action
Gigapixel Streaming & Zoom
Stream only what the viewer is looking at. Source panoramas are sliced into multi-resolution tile sets and loaded on demand, with dynamic LOD spheres that swap detail seamlessly as you zoom — full gigapixel fidelity without exhausting GPU memory.
- Async tile loader with concurrency caps and CDN overrides
- LRU cache with per-device budgets, filtering, and mip bias
- ~30 draw calls even at high zoom thanks to instancing
Visual Tour Graph Editor
Author entire tours in a node-based graph window — no scripting required. Drop location nodes, configure each camera, wire connections between them, and attach hotspots visually. Custom hotspot editors are auto-discovered and appear in the graph automatically.
- Locations, cameras, and connections as graph nodes
- Hotspot editors registered via attribute discovery
- Build the same graph in code with TourGraphFactory
Interactive Hotspots
Place hotspots that trigger location transitions, video overlays, URL prompts, or text callouts. Prefab-based anchors keep authoring simple and upgrade-safe, and you can define entirely custom hotspot types by deriving from HotspotData and HotspotAnchor.
- Built-in transition, video, URL, and text hotspots
- Custom types via HotspotData / HotspotAnchor
- Mouse, touch, and VR input handled out of the box
Floor Plan Minimap
Give viewers their bearings with a built-in floor plan minimap. Drag and drop map locations, and a live camera viewport shows exactly where the user is looking — all configured in the editor with no code.
- Drag-and-drop map location setup
- Live camera viewport overlay
- Configurable markers, zero scripting
Panorama Splitter
Convert equirectangular panoramas into tiled data sets under StreamingAssets with the PanoShard Splitter editor window. Save repeatable export profiles as SplitterPreset assets — tile size, zoom levels, and KTX compression all captured for one-click reuse.
- Equirectangular → tiled StreamingAssets
- SplitterPreset profiles incl. KTX compression
- Native-speed slicing app on Windows & macOS
At a Glance
VR Mode
Drop in VRPlatformSetup and PanoShardVRSupport for gaze or controller input and stereoscopic rendering on all major headsets.
Cross-Platform Input
Unified mouse, touch, and VR strategies adapt automatically per device, with registries open to custom input types.
Runtime Tour API
Assemble tours programmatically with the fluent TourGraphFactory — add locations, cameras, connections, and hotspots in code.
Intelligent Cache
Tune cache limits, anisotropic filtering, and mip bias through runtime presets built for desktop, mobile, and VR.
Use Cases
- Virtual showrooms that blend hotspots, video explainers, and guided prompts
- Tourism and real estate walkthroughs with ultra-high-resolution zoom
- Training simulations that track hotspot completion and enforce step-by-step progress
- Educational journeys that run multiple guided tracks for different audiences
Requirements
Unity Version
Unity 6 or newer
Render Pipeline
Universal Render Pipeline (URP)
Platforms
Windows, macOS, WebGL, iOS, Android
Scripting
.NET 4.x Equivalent
What's Included
- Example projects with complete scene setups
- Editor windows for onboarding, tile splitting, and tour creation
- Free hotspot pack with drag-and-drop prefabs
- Full PDF + online documentation
- Video tutorials and runtime presets
- Complete C# source access (Pro version)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I render gigapixel panoramas in Unity?
PanoShard slices source images into multi-resolution tile sets and streams them on demand using a custom Unity tile loader, dynamic LOD spheres, and an LRU cache. This lets you display gigapixel 360° imagery at full fidelity on desktop, mobile, WebGL, and VR without exhausting GPU memory.
Does PanoShard support Unity WebGL?
Yes. PanoShard runs in Unity WebGL builds and includes streaming, caching, and concurrency controls tuned for browser deployment. Live WebGL demos are available on the product page.
What's the best Unity asset for high-resolution 360° virtual tours?
PanoShard is purpose-built for high-resolution 360° tours in Unity. It bundles a tile splitter, hotspot system, floor-plan minimap, guided-tour manager, and VR support out of the box — so you can build virtual showrooms, real-estate walkthroughs, and educational tours without writing streaming code.
Which Unity version and render pipeline does PanoShard require?
PanoShard requires Unity 6 or newer with the Universal Render Pipeline (URP). It targets .NET 4.x Equivalent scripting and supports Windows, macOS, WebGL, iOS, and Android.
Can PanoShard be used for VR panorama experiences?
Yes. PanoShard integrates natively with Unity's XR Interaction Toolkit and supports room-scale and seated VR on all major headsets, with shared input abstractions across desktop, touch, and VR devices.
Ready to Get Started?
Download PanoShard from the Unity Asset Store and start creating immersive 360° experiences today.