A Burj eye view of Dubai: Heart-stopping 360-degree interactive image taken from top of the world's tallest building

• Image was captured from the top of the spire of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa
• Made up of 70 different high resolution images stitched together
• Recreates the view Tom Cruise had while filming for Mission Impossible Four

It is an astonishing image of a unique city.
This incredible panoramic image was taken 828 metres above sea level, from the top of the tallest building on earth, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
Composed of over 70 individual photos, it recreates the view Tom Cruise made famous as he sat at the tower’s peak during the filming of Mission Impossible Four, ‘Ghost Protocol’.

Navigate around the interactive image below (may not work on all mobile devices)

 

THE BURJ KHALIFA

The top of the Burj Khalifa, developed by global property developer Emaar Properties, is over 200 metres above the highest point reached by the building’s elevators, which reach the 160th floor at speeds of some 10 metres per second.

The tower’s public observation deck is on the 124th floor.

The journey to the pinnacle involves a steep ladder climb within the 200-meter spire that crowns the building.

It takes in Dubai’s many landmarks, including the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel, the world’s biggest mall, the Dubai Mall and the Meydan Racecourse and shows the remarkable growth of a city still on a fast track to developing as a business hub and tourist destination.
Dubai based photographer Gerald Donovan created the shot using a mechanised panoramic tripod head to take a series of 48 panoramic images, each shot at a resolution of 80 megapixels.
Mr Donovan was given access to the  top of the Burj Khalifa, developed by global property developer Emaar Properties.

 

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It is over 200 metres above the highest point reached by the building’s elevators, which reach the 160th floor at speeds of some 10 metres per second.
The tower’s celebrated public observation deck, at the top, Burj Khalifa is on the 124th floor. 
The journey to the pinnacle involves a steep ladder climb within the 200-meter spire that crowns the building.
These were then stitched together with manually shot images to ‘fill-in’ gaps caused by equipment installed at the top of the tower such as the lightning conductor and aircraft beacons.
The result is an image that can be zoomed, tilted and rotated, giving viewers a sense of how it must feel  to sit on top the world’s highest building.

Enlarge  

One of the astonishing 360 images from the top of the 828 metre high Burj Khalifa in Dubai

The image has been released to celebrate the second Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Photography Award (HIPA), which will take place in Dubai in March.
The award, the world’s richest photography award, will see prizes totalling $389,000 and attracts entrants from 99 countries, with a grand prize of $120,000.
'This is an extraordinary image taken from an extraordinary location,' said His Excellency Ali bin Thalith, the General Secretary of the award.
'It reflects the goals of HIPA, to extend the boundaries of photography and celebrate images of unusual beauty and quality that are truly outstanding,'

HOW THEY DID IT

Photographer Gerald Donovan climbing to the top of the tower to set up his equipment

Dubai based photographer Gerald Donovan said he has wanted to take the photographs for several years.

'I've always wanted to – ever since seeing the first designs of the building,' he told MailOnline.

'The Burj Khalifa is a perfect building for shooting a 360 degree pano from the top of, because its 'roof' is only 1.5 meters across.

'This means that you can shoot from a single location and capture the entire view, without the building itself getting in the way (aircraft beacons and lightning conductors excluded!).

'I shot a 45 gigapixel panorama of the Dubai skyline in April 2010 – at the time, the world’s largest ever digital panorama, and thought that a panorama from the pinnacle of the Burj Khalifa would be a great way to top that.

'As long as it was big enough to make it interesting to zoom around in, it didn’t need to be 10’s or 100’s of gigapixels.

'It’s all about the view. Nothing can top that view – it is a unique place.

'Since the time of the Great Pyramids, remarkably few buildings have held the title of 'World’s tallest structure on land'.

'The Burj Khalifa is only the 15th in over 4,500 years of human history.

'It’s a very, very special building, and hopefully people will appreciate it even more now that they can see the view from the top.

'It’s all about being able to take people up there “virtually” and share what I experienced for real, and I hope people enjoy it!'

Tom Cruise is one of the few to have see the incredible view from the top of the towers, when he performed a stunt for Mission Impossible 4.

Tom Cruise performing another hair-raising stunt, perched barefoot at the very top of the Burj Khalifa on November 19, 2010 in Dubai. The new interactive image lets others see his point of view for the first time

The view from the top: The Burj Khalifa Pinnacle Panorama reveals what Dubai looks like from the spire at the top of the building

Photographer Gerald Donovan was given unique access to the top of the the Burj Tower to take the images, which is accessed through a skylight (right) at the tower's peak. The team also have to deal with local wildlife during the shoot - including pigeons in front of the camera (left)

Tom Cruise climbing the building in the latest Mission Impossible film

The Burj Khalifa, which stands 2,717 feet tall

How high? The Burj Khalifa comapred to other tall buildings around the globe

The Burj Khalifa Pinnacle Panorama image lets people look around Dubai