Facebook launches Live 360 degree videos; to be available for all in 2017
Facebook added Live video streaming feature to its platform at the beginning of 2016, which gradually rolled out to everyone. The company also added support for 360 degree videos to its app. Now, Facebook has combined these two features into one to bring ‘Facebook Live 360 degree videos’.
Facebook has joined hands with National Geographic to debut the new Live 360 degree video. The first Live 360 video from National Geographic will broadcast seven space scientists from around the world who have been kept in isolation for 80 days as part of a research work at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.
The broadcast will start from 13th December at 12pm on NatGeo’s Facebook page. Facebook users can pan across the scene with their mouse cursor on a desktop computer or by moving their smartphone around. The Live 360 video will also include Q&A sessions where a line-up of science experts, writers and thinkers will take questions from the Facebook audience.
Live video on Facebook gives people an immediate, authentic window into what’s happening in the world right now; 360 video immerses viewers fully into the scene, letting them explore on their own and experience a new environment. We’re excited to combine these two formats with Live 360 video. Live 360 transports people into new experiences-right as they happen.
– Supratik Lahiri, Product Manager & Chetan Gupta, Software Engineer, Facebook.
The Live 360 will be available to Pages via the Live API in the coming months. Facebook also confirmed that the Live 360 videos will be rolling out broadly for all Pages and Profiles in 2017.
Featured Image Credit: Mashable
