360-degree video for virtual place-based research: A review and research agenda

360-degree video is an immersive technology used in research across academic disciplines. This paper provides the first comprehensive review on the use of 360-degree video for virtual place-based research, highlighting its use in experimental, experiential, and environmental observation studies. Five key research domains for 360-degree video are described: tourism and cultural heritage; built environment and land use; natural environment; health and wellbeing; and transportation and safety. 360-degree video offers considerable advantages compared to unidirectional video, computer-generated virtual reality, and map-based geographic representation. Benefits include ease of use, low-cost, interactivity, sense of immersive realism, remote accessibility, and the ability to capture and analyze places in a fully panoramic field of view. Limitations include additional costs associated with virtual reality viewing technologies, simulation sickness and discomfort, and viewer distraction due to the technology's novelty and immersive affordances. This paper also outlines a future research agenda, including the possibility of moving beyond the ‘testing and trialling’ of 360-degree video since it provides novel research opportunities distinct from either ‘real’ experience or conventional forms of visual and spatial representation. Overall, this paper provides detailed evidence for researchers interested in using 360-degree video for virtual research on built, social, and natural environments and human-environment interactions.