Now live: V21 Artspace’s custom virtual tour interface

V21 Artspace’s custom viewing and annotation system is now live. It connects a Matterport tour with a purpose-built interface, structured content and a dedicated editing workflow. It gives us greater control over how people discover a space, move between points of interest and engage with the stories attached to them.

We have used Matterport to document physical spaces for many years. This development adds V21’s own software to that foundation: the navigation, content presentation and interaction design can now be shaped around the project and its audience.

Click the object. Discover the story.

Visitors can select an artwork or object in the scene to open its information. Our editor maps interactive areas to positions in the 3D environment, including rectangular surfaces and traced outlines for irregular works. These areas remain attached to the space as the visitor changes viewpoint.

A visual menu offers another way in. Visitors can browse the content, move to a chosen work and open its details when they are ready. Previous and next controls follow an order derived from the objects’ physical positions. Preferred viewing positions can be saved in the editor, bringing visitors to the intended side and framing of a work.

An interface designed around the visit

The tour fills the available browser window. On desktop, a generous information panel places the image alongside its details. On mobile, the layout keeps navigation compact and presents information in a panel suited to the smaller screen. The artwork list stays closed until it is needed, leaving the space at the centre of the experience.

The live V21 desktop information panel. Catalogue images and test content are shown.

Custom development using Matterport’s SDK and API

The viewer is built by V21 Artspace using Matterport’s Showcase Bundle SDK and Model API. Matterport provides the captured environment and underlying 3D viewer. V21’s code controls the surrounding interface, object interactions, camera journeys and information panels.

The SDK connects our interface to the 3D scene and camera. Our code tests clicks and taps against mapped artwork surfaces, while the Model API saves centre anchors back to Matterport. The larger outlines, preferred viewpoints and associated content are stored in V21’s own project system. The web application is built with Next.js and TypeScript, with Supabase for project data and CMS authentication, and Vercel Blob for optimised images.

A separate editor uses the V21 CMS login. It brings projects, media, artwork information and placement tools into one workflow, while visitors receive a dedicated viewing link. This reduces the need to build and maintain a separate interactive presentation for every annotation.

Built for exhibitions. Adaptable to other spaces.

Artworks are one application of the system. The same approach can be adapted for museum objects, heritage interpretation, education, visitor orientation and commercial environments. The relevant point of interest might be an exhibit, a room, a product or a piece of equipment.

The V21 interface can be fully adapted to each client’s brand, content and audience: page layouts, visual styling, menus, content fields, navigation and interaction design can all be shaped around the brief. We can develop additional interactions where a project needs them, with the scope agreed for each client.

From a visual tour to structured knowledge

A digital twin can carry more than a visual record. V21 links named artworks and other points of interest to structured content, stable identifiers and positions within the Matterport space. Matterport’s Model API provides programmatic access to model data; our content system adds the editorial context that explains what visitors are looking at.

This creates the foundation for a machine-readable interpretation layer around the model. With appropriately published text, metadata and data connections, that information can support collection search, related-content discovery and AI-assisted retrieval that refers people back to the source. Improved visibility depends on what is made publicly accessible, its quality and how external services index it; it is not an automatic search-ranking benefit or a claim that the model is used to train AI.

More ways to access the experience

The aim is to make artworks and their stories accessible to a global audience through remote access, multilingual interpretation and inclusive design.

Remote access, readable information panels and a named artwork menu give audiences more ways to explore a place and its stories. The interface can be developed further around accessibility needs, including text alternatives, captions, transcripts, audio description and clear keyboard navigation.

Accessibility is part of the content and interaction design, not simply a property of a 3D scan. We agree the requirements with each client and test the complete experience, including embedded players and documents, against that brief.

Content beyond photography

The custom interface is not limited to a photographic presentation. It can be extended to connect a point in the space with an interactive 3D model, video, audio, a PDF or other supporting material—for example, a sculpture that can be rotated, an artist interview, spoken interpretation or a gallery guide.

The live version currently uses images and text. Additional media integrations are scoped for each project, with attention to mobile performance, accessible controls, captions or transcripts, and suitable alternatives to embedded content.

See the live interface

The screenshots show our live interface using Hospital Rooms: Host / Guest. They demonstrate the viewing experience with catalogue preview material; final exhibition photography and content are still to follow.

Explore our interactive 3D virtual tour services or talk to V21 Artspace about a custom tour interface.