Virtual reality 360-pics to hit your Facebook news feed ‘in coming weeks’
Put your phone’s camera on standby, because Facebook is about to roll out a 360-degree photographic feature, opening a door for everyone to share moments in orb-like grandeur.
Launched last year, Facebook’s 360-degree video has been a hit, but there is more to come. In coming weeks, Facebook will let its users post fully-immersive photos right to the News Feed, executives from the virtual reality tech company Oculus announced Tuesday.
READ MORE: Another first: RT streams news broadcast LIVE in 360
"Our goal is to get this camera into the hands of as many creators as possible," Eugene Wei, the head of video at Oculus, told reporters.
Zuckerberg promotes virtual reality as ‘most social platform’ https://t.co/1tgcY50ySnpic.twitter.com/c6ddygp5U4
— RT America (@RT_America) February 22, 2016
The feature is definitely going to hook up even more people to the world of 360. Taking pictures is not only easier, but also cheaper, since no special 360-degree rigs (which are expensive!) will be needed to capture the lively images.
“You’ll be able to take a panoramic photo from your phone or use a 360 camera, upload it to Facebook, and pan around by tilting your phone or dragging the image,” Oculus said.
The images will display in News Feed as still pictures, but they will go live as soon as the viewer hovers over to look around the image.
Headsets like the Samsung Gear VR or Oculus Rift will, of course, be handy here. In April alone, just six months after the consumer-ready Gear VR launched, over one million people used the device.
"Oculus' mission is to help people experience anything, anywhere," Max Cohen, Oculus' head of mobile, said.
On average, users spend around 25 minutes a day on the Gear VR, which only proves that “they're highly engaged with the product,” Cohen told reporters Tuesday.
RT has been an early adopter of the new technology, bringing its audience news in riveting video via a dedicated Facebook channel and Youtube.
In late April, RT’s Social Media team efforts in bringing cutting-edge technologies to its readers and viewers were rewarded with its first-ever Webby Award, the world’s Oscar of the internet.
