Ballydehob put firmly in the frame

BALLYDEHOB is poised to become the first village in Ireland – possibly the world – to become accessible online from anywhere around the globe.

The originator of the highly unique project, Ashley Bell, and his partner Sarah Cunningham, have become regular visitors to Ballydehob since his mother Sandra traced her roots to the village about five years ago. To demonstrate their love for Ballydehob they used a 360 camera – which has a lens on each side and can see everything including the floor and ceiling – to take images of the local businesses and stores.

The virtual tour of Ballydehob will be launched – at an open air party to which everyone is invited – at 7.30pm at Bank House on Saturday.

The tour itself consists of around 150 photospheres, but to get to that point they had to take and process more than 3,000 images.

From Saturday on anyone, anywhere, will be able to access the tour through the Ballydehob website.

Ashley described the effect as ‘creating a photograph in the shape of a bubble with the viewer in the middle of that bubble.’

The viewer will be able to press a button to hear recorded messages from business owners.

Ashley, who lives in Co Meath, said they hope the project – which they did on a voluntary basis – will convey to others what is so special about Ballydehob. He said there is potential to ‘add to it and continue to improve it over time.’