Generate “spherical” panorama in 3D software

Question

Lets say I have a 3D model of room in some format. How can I programmatically render "spherical" panorama from some point of room (kind of like the "Google street view" uses)?

I suppose it can be done in Blender?

It's better if it will be done in Linux.

Answer 1

I'd say your best bet is to render cube maps and convert these to the desired projection. IIRC HDRshop is able to convert cube maps to sphere maps. To render a cube map, just point a camera with 90° FOV along each positive and negative coordinate axis.

Answer 2

If you want a static image, render the images like Malte says, and stitch them back together with http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

If you were looking for something interactive, you can render it in the blender game engine, and look around inside, or even project it into a dome.