I just discovered Peter Murphy's Panoramic VR Weblog.
This is outstanding stuff. This guy seems to have elevated 360 panoramic pictures to an art form. I am not sure if there is an Austrialian equivalent of a Pulitzer prize but surely he would be in the running.
Some checking around shows that he is a pioneer in this use of technology and has been creating pictures like these for a number of years. In my mind his pictures go way beyond technology.