Is it really a virtual reality real estate tour?

There are a whole bunch of real estate Web sites out there in the cyber world extolling the benefits of virtual reality especially in the area of sales.

Could it be true? Can we really walk around homes for sale in the virtual world? How great is that?

Imagine our disappointment when we realized most of these real estate sites were only offering panoramic photos of the the inside of the houses and we weren't really transported (cyberly, of course) into the home. We must have read way too much science fiction growing up.

Yes, it's true. What these sites call virtual reality is neither. When are they going to quit putting up pictures and calling it a virtual tour and getting our hopes up?

The closest thing we have found is the video virtual reality real estate tour. At least with video, one has real movement, and in some cases an actual person leading the tour.

So listen up, real estate agents. Stop calling your pathetic little photographs virtual reality or we'll take our phasers off stun.