YouTube Now Supports 360-Degree Videos, Seen to Benefit VR
Reports of YouTube supporting 360-degree video has been confirmed, and the Internet and VR communities have been shook like never before.
YouTube announced that it has started support for 360-degree videos for its web and mobile platforms, due to the increasing popularity and advancements in virtual reality. The 360-degree video support is going to benefit VR headsets, most specially the Google Cardboard which directly supports YouTube. Aside from the mobile platform support for this recent development, the web version of YouTube will also be enabled for 360-degree videos.
According to a statement made by Google, the company said, “You could let viewers see the stage and the crowd of your concert, the sky and the ground as you wingsuit glide, or you could even have a choose-your-own-adventure video where people see a different story depending on where they look… Only you know what’s possible. That’s why today we are starting to support 360-degree video uploads on YouTube, to continue giving you all the best resources to connect with your viewers.”
YouTube actually started to roll out initial videos that boast of 360-degree viewing experience, including the popular YouTube character Annoying Orange with the video entitled “Annoying Orange in 360 degrees!”.
Along with the feature support on YouTube made by Google, the tech company is also collaborating with some of the camera industry names like Kodak and Ricoh to integrate the 360-degree video support in some cameras to facilitate easy uploading and processing. This YouTube feature is just the beginning, and Google intends in the near future to add automatic detection support as well as enhanced searching that is optimized for videos with 360-degree support.
How do users make videos go around in space? In the mobile app, users just move their smartphones or tablets around to experience the 360-degree view in selected videos. On the web version, there is a dial that needs to be moved around in order to get the all-around view.
The feature is initially available for the mobile and web platforms, with initial Android and Google Chrome support while iOS will follow suit very soon. For the virtual reality audiences, YouTube will eventually add the cool feature to the Google Cardboard soon. Google also promises to roll out the same feature in other VR headsets as well in the future. The tech company also confirmed that a possibility of 360-degree video live streaming is also in the works.
For more information on this YouTube feature, please visit the following websites:
http://youtubecreator.blogspot.com/2015/03/a-new-way-to-see-and-share-your-world.html
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6178631
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/01/06/youtube-says-itll-support-360-degree-video-very-soon/
