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If only VTHawaii.com (and the Internet) had been around when I was a kid, I could have browsed through this website of 185 fullscreen QTVRs of Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, the big island Hawaii and, of course, Oahu, along with photo slideshows and Java virtual tours. Along with all the eye-candy, I would have learned that the Big Island is over 4,000 sq. miles with 266 miles of coastline, and that Lanai is Hawaii’s smallest and most exclusive island, and that Oahu is known as ‘The Gathering Place’, with a population of 830,000 and that Honolulu is America’s 11th largest city.

Fortunately, we now have Dean Karamehmedovic and his one-man operation VTHawaii.com. The site contains loads and loads of photos, with a selection of formats for various connections and interest levels, such as Java-based virtual tours, photo slideshows and full screen QTVRs; but it’s really the full screen panos that make this website a must-visit url for anyone with an interest in Hawaii. Organized by technology (Virtual Tour, Slide Show, QTVR), by island, and by type (beaches, shopping, culture and history, gardens, etc.) VTHawaii.com is well-organized and easy to navigate, remarkably fast-loading and contains some pertinent information on each of the islands.

Dean Karamehmedovic (or Aloha Dean) is a Slovenian who moved to Hawaii several years ago and has an outsider’s reverence and passion for his new homeland. As Dean describes it, “I have this rare opportunity to live in Honolulu, HI and enjoy the peace of paradise with so many hidden treasured places and beautiful beaches that everybody is dreaming about”. One look at Dean’s full screen of Oahu's verdant Valley of the Temple and you’ll know what he means by ‘hidden treasured places’.

Dean uses a Sony F717 digital camera with a wide and conversion lens from Sony 0.7 and occasionally uses cir. polarizing and skylight filter from Hoya. All his stuff is mounted on a Bogen tripod with a very heavy Bogen QTVR Head Kit, which includes the leveling base, Panoramic Head and Elbow Bracket to ensure the optical center of the lens. For underwater photography Dean works with his 10bar camera housing, Époque DCL-20 0.56X Wide conversion lens and strobe from Epoque ES-150 DS. For stitching virtual tours he uses PixMaker Pro, PanoCUBE and GoCubic for QTVR and the occasional help of PhotoShop CS & Corel 10.

Dean, can you tell us a little about your background – did you grow up in Honolulu, your background in photography, how you became interested in VRs, etc.?

My mother is Slovenian and I was born in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, 40 years ago. I immigrated with my family (wife and son) to Canada in 1995 and we happily lived in Halifax, NS for 5 years. At first as B.S.E., I was working as a web developer and after a year and a half I became tired of being indoors, in front of the computer all the time. In June 1997 I decided to purchase a coffee shop "Amadeus Café" in downtown Halifax and make living serving the best espresso in town. It was very popular trendy place with “Euro-Look” for hanging out and through the coffee shop I had a chance to meet a lot of very interesting people, writers, actors.... In 2000 my wife got an excellent job offer from Honolulu, Hawaii and coffee (Kona) made my destiny again. We always wanted to live in the tropics, especially after experiencing Canadian winters. She started with a new job, I sold the business and the family moved to Hawaii calling Honolulu home.

When and how did you start VTHawaii.com?

One day I was watching TV Slovenia over the internet and I saw a short story about fellow Slovenian countryman Bostjan Burger whose 'Subterranean Caves of Slovenia' have been highlighted in a past issue of VRMAG. After a few emails that we exchanged I was sure that I wanted to start my Hawaiian Virtual Tour. Bostjan was my mentor helping me to choose equipment, software and giving me advice. After the photo classes from Terry Takaki "Applied photography" in Honolulu, I had a first panos in January 2003 and new website March 2003. I was so passionate about working and traveling from island to island and trying to find and take a pictures not only the popular, well-known places but hidden, beautiful places that visitors can not find in a travel guides. In less than a year, the website featured in total 1000 panos and as recognition of my hard work I received Aloha award given by the http://www.hawaiicity.com . Recently, I had a chance to meet with a Michael Quan, IQTVRA president, http://www.iqtvra.org who was complimenting my work and encouraging me to continue. My hard work is paying off every time I receive compliments from different people that visit my website.

You website has a nice mix of technology with slideshows, Java tours and fullscreen QTVRs; which is the most popular with your visitors and what type of feedback have you received regarding the technology?

At first, our website featured Java tours and slideshows. Over time we had a demand for better and higher resolution; QuickTime VR in full screen was the perfect choice. Slideshow were very popular because of the browsing speed. Now these days with broadband, demand is exclusive for QTVR in full screen.

My website has a variety of visitors around the globe. What surprising to me is that customers are more interested in well-known tourist destinations like Waikiki, Pearl Harbor, Maui, local hotels, etc. That’s not the real Hawaii. Hawaii is 130 islands, it is a lush tropical paradise of endless white, black or green sand beaches, active volcanoes and crystal blue waters... it is a place with a complex history and a rich cultural diversity. Maui Haleakala, Big Island Volcano, Kauai Kalalau Lookout and Waimea Canyon, Molokai Kalaupapa Peninsula and Lanai Garden of the God... names that evoke the history and mystery of the islands themselves. That’s the real Hawaii.

Is VTHawaii a personal hobby for you or is it more of a business card to showcase your work? Is there much demand for commercial QTVR work in Hawaii?

At first, when VTHawaii was born, the website was my hobby. Over time, providing the opportunity and sharing with visitors discoveries of 1000 panos of the Hawaiian Islands I shot over the last few years, the website became something more than a hobby. After I finished six major islands I had a few business offers and demand to redesign the website making panos more accessible and easy to find. It took me a few months to accomplish that but it was well worth it. In this moment the site is commercial free but I am hoping that I can move forward.

In Hawaii, commercial QTVR is already done by Vancouver based company VRX Studio Inc. My website is the most comprehensive website in Hawaii with regular updates and I hope that in the future we can grow further becoming a commercial company.

Your website is a great place for potential travelers to discover the various islands and determine which ones they would like to visit. Have you thought about adding links to virtual tours of local hotels, restaurants and other tourist spots?

Yes, making Virtual Tours with internal links as existing in a Java scene was my initial idea. Previewing panos, moving inside 360’sceneson Waikiki Street with hot links and entrances to every mayor hotel was a dream. Unfortunately panos in Java are very slow. If you have more than 20 hot links inside a VR Tour, panos need an unreasonable amount of time to open, making interactive maps more effective. I was planning to finish an interactive map of Waikiki on top of my 70 VR panos, adding more hotels, restaurants and other hot spots soon. Stay tuned.

Obvious question: what is your favorite part of Hawaii, and why?

Maybe the Big Island is my favorite island with its inspiring tropical gardens, Volcano National park, Mauna Kea and great scuba diving, but the search for the real Hawaii begins and ends with Molokai. It's discovery that you will remember forever. It's the Old Hawaii and the only place with Mana (spirit). Only travelers who are lucky to stay some time will understand the real meaning of Hawaiian Mana.

Next, as a very passionate and active Divemaster with 280 log dives, I recently completed my setup for Underwater VR. The Hawaiian Islands, located around 1600 miles (2600 km) from the U.S. Mainland, assures you seeing species you have not seen before. This is because Hawaii has a high percentage of species that are indigenous. If you add some famous underwater wrecks on Oahu, Maui Molokini Crater, Big Island Manta Ray diving, whales, dolphins, sharks …list and inspiration for photography and VR are unlimited.

I think that the underwater panos will bring an additional dimension to the current offerings on my site.
Email: dean[at]vthawaii[dot]com