How to create an immersive experience with 360Panorama Images?

I am new to the Unity and seeking your help in following.

As a part of the project, I am trying to create an immersive experience with 360 panorama images, in unity.

In short I want viewer to land into a photo/scene. The same photo works as a marker(ImageTarget). The experience should start only by recognising the marker(ImageTarget). It is like AR to VR transition.

Let's say, If viewer looking at the image of The Taj Mahal(Image attached), The viewer should be transported in front the Taj Mahal virtually, so viewer would be able to experience not only the photo of Taj Mahal, but the surrounding of Taj Mahal as well.



What I have?
1) Unity3D installed.
2) Android Phone (OS : Nougat)
2) A Photo as marker : Using Vuforia I have created the above photo as ImageTarget and Imported the package in unity.
3) Equirectungular / 360 panorama Images, which are captured through android phone. and I am able use them as skybox in unity.

Help me in
How to trigger the immersive experience of the Taj Mahal by using the Taj Mahal photo as Marker ???

 

Are you actually expecting the user to don a VR headset at some point? Or do you merely mean, you want to switch to a 360 view, that the user still views on their phone held at arm's length?

 

@JoeStrout
I want viewer, to be wearing VR headset while experiencing.
Handheld phone would not make it immersive.

 

OK, then I don't understand what happens before the 360 view. They're already in VR; how are you using Vuforia to detect images in the real world? The user can't even see the real world at that point, can they?

 

@JoeStrout
At very first time when viewer will wear the VRHeadset with phone in it, the application will be expected to keep the phone's camera open as it happens in any Augmented Reality application. The VR headset, which i am using is allows to remove the lid/flap (as shown in the attached picture), so that camera can see the physical world out there. So while wearing the headset viewer could able to see the marker(Taj Mahal photo). Through the phone camera the marker will be recognised and switch to immersive experience of 360 image.

 

OK, I see.

Well, then I guess the trickiest thing is switching into and out of VR mode. You'd do that with XRSettings.enabled. (I've never actually tried this, but it appears to be what that's for.)