Facebook Rolls Out 3-D Video Capability

September 24, 2015

Today we’re launching 360 video on Facebook. Starting very soon, anyone will be able to upload 360 video, and if you’re on a desktop or Android (or an iPhone in the coming months), you can pan around the video while it’s playing in your News Feed. On the phone especially, slowly turning around and tilting your device up and down to watch a scene as it’s playing is a really cool experience that takes you somewhere else. It’s the kind of thing that you run over to show someone else the moment you first see it.To showcase the technology, Disney is releasing a brand new, exclusive 360 experience for the upcoming Star Wars film today on Facebook, which will allow viewers to explore the planet Jakku while traveling on Rey’s speeder. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know what that means, but we are honored to have such a legendary launch partner.A bunch of great partners have come up with really interesting takes on what can be done with 360 that are also launching today — shark diving with the Discovery Channel, on the set of the 40th anniversary of SNL, on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan from VICE, motocross riding in the Idaho desert with with GoPro, LeBron James taking you inside his training routine. It’s an open-ended format, so we’re really excited to see what creators around the world come up with as they get their hands on it.
Posted by Chris Cox on Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Now you can show off your real estate listings in 3-D on Facebook.

The social-networking giant announced Wednesday that its news feed now supports 360-degree videos on the Web and Android smartphones. Apple's iOS will be getting the added feature in the coming months.

Facebook collaborated with Oculus, a virtual-reality headset maker it purchased for $2 billion last year, in bringing the technology to its site. Mobile users are able to swipe a 360-degree video on Facebook or just tilt their phone to view the content from different angles. On the Web, users can drag the video with their mouse to view more angles.

"On the phone especially, slowly turning around and tilting your device up and down to watch a scene as it's playing is a really cool experience that takes you somewhere else," says Chris Cox, Facebook's chief product officer. "It's the kind of thing that you run over to show someone else the moment you first see it."

Facebook has been putting more weight on video lately. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made comments in July that "immersive 3-D content is the obvious next thing after video." About 1.5 billion users view Facebook's news feed every month.

YouTube, one of Facebook's chief competitors, has been supporting 360-degree videos since March.

Source: realtor.org