Facebook Brings 360 Degree Video To iPhone And Samsung Gear VR

Facebook first added support for these videos in September, but until now the videos were only available from Facebook’s website and Android app. Though 360-degree videos aren’t technically the same as virtual reality, viewing them through a a virtual reality headset offers a much more immersive experience and could be seen a first step toward a bigger virtual reality push from Facebook.

In addition to iOS support, Facebook has integrated 360-degree videos with Samsung Gear VR and supported Samsung smartphones.

A number of publishers and brands including GoPro, Vice, and The Disney Channel have already published 360-degree content, and Facebook says there are more videos on the way from the likes of BuzzFeed, Nickelodeon, and ABC News.

And to attract more 360-degree videos to its service, Facebook has added a way for anyone operating a Facebook page to post 360-degree videos, including a way to edit the initial camera angle and vertical field of view before uploading the video. Facebook is testing to allow advertisers to use 360 videos in their ads making it a very engaging experience for users and will be more likely to pay attention to the advertisement.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) made 360-degree videos available in NEWS FEED. The site will also give advice on the best practices on shooting the said videos, plus other guidelines from a virtual reality studio called Vrse. That means that companies like AT&T, Walt Disney, Samsung and Ritz will soon be placing 360-degree video ads directly into your News Feed. That made visual ads seem natural. Usually, people would just click a YouTube video and leave.

Since April Facebook’s daily video views have skyrocketed from 4 billion to 8 billion. Theta, Giroptic, IC Real Tech, and 360 Fly are all planning in the near future to provide a “publish to Facebook” option in their apps, Facebook said.

Trying to whet consumer and marketer appetites for virtual environments – and increase engagement in the process – Facebook officially rolled out 360-degree videos, in September.