Facebook announced 360-degree video support

Facebook introduces the 360-degree video. It is a new feature which will let you roll videos in any angle. The new feature will be accessible first on the web and Android devices.

As Facebook management sees it, the number of video post continually grows each month on Facebook and people are fascinated with it. "Over time, we've seen that people enjoy more immersive content in their News Feeds. This is one reason video has been so successful on Facebook, and we're excited to take it a step further with 360 video," Maher Saba, Facebook Engineering Director of Video, posted on the blog quoted on CCM Benchmark.

In the coming days, you would be able to watch your friend's videos in different views. You could spin your phone around and swipe the screen to whichever direction you want. "In the future, imagine watching 360 videos of a friend's vacation to a small village in France or a festival in Brazil -- you'll be able to look around and experience it as if you were there," Saba described.

TechSpot had specified publishers that will produce materials for the content of the 360-degree video. Some of them are GoPro, Discovery, VICE, LeBron  James & Uninterrupted, Star Wars and Saturday Night Live.

However, story-tellers and video creators can post multi-angled videos as well. It was open to all so long as they have the spherical camera rig. Some labels pioneering these types of video cameras are Bublcam and GoPro.

The support for 360-degree video has been made possible through the Oculus virtual reality system. It was purchased by Facebook for $2B. According to Tech Crunch, Mark Zuckerberg has the goal to bring VR to the people when he bought the Oculus. He wants the people to experience watching videos like they were in the same place. He's been focused in providing users a more vivid content in the form of text, photos, videos and in the future, virtual reality.  

Initially, the 360-degree video will be available on the web and Android phones only. IOS users would have to wait for months.