1. A method for generating a cylindrical environment map having a longitudinal axis of cylinder, said cylindrical environment map comprising a plurality of elements and associated information pertaining to images of a panoramic scene, the method comprising the steps of: storing in memory information associated with elements of a side image of said panoramic scene; storing in memory information associated with elements of a non-side image of said panoramic scene, wherein said non-side image is one of a top image and a bottom image comprising a view of said panoramic scene projected onto a polygonal planar surface that is substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis of cylinder of said cylindrical environment map; and for at least one element of said cylindrical environment map, if said at least one element of said cylindrical environment map corresponds to at least one element of said side image, associating information corresponding to said at least one element of said side image with said at least one element of said cylindrical environment map, and if said at least one element of said cylindrical environment map corresponds to at least one element of said non-side image, associating information corresponding to said at least one element of said non-side image with said at least one element of said cylindrical environment map.