Shop Talk: Anthony Ruiz of Samurai Virtual Tours

Samurai's Owners: The husband and wife team of Carole (left) and Anthony Ruiz at the March Refresh Philly event.

You may have seen Anthony Ruiz in the corner of events like Refresh Philly diligently setting up his tripod.

While Ruiz may first appear to be another semi-serious amateur photographer taking pictures for his Flickr feed, he is the owner of Samurai Virtual Tours, a South Jersey-based company that stitches together photographs, audio and video to create vivid virtual experiences for businesses and events.

“We’re loving meeting the technology lovers in Philly,” said Ruiz who originally started the business in upstate New York, but moved to the Garden State to be closer to family. He says that South Jersey offers a proximity to several big cities as well as bunch of untapped non-tech related business in New Jersey.

Creating interactive tours takes a lot more work that using the panoramic mode on your point and shoot. After the jump, Ruiz gives us a peak into how he turns a dozen pictures into the closest thing the Internet has to virtual reality, and all without that awkward headset.
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