Facebook has dabbled in virtual reality technology in the past for its users and they will soon have an easier way to find VR content. The app, which is free and currently available only on Samsung’s Gear VR and the Oculus store, separates content into four main sections. In the Explore tab, you’ll find VR content from media companies and other publishers. The Following tab will showcase videos and other images from your friends and pages you follow. The Saved tab archives VR content you find on other devices and bookmarks it for later viewing, while the Timeline section lets you revisit your own VR uploads. Facebook, which owns Oculus, boasts that more than 25 million VR photos and 1 million VR videos have been posted to the social media network so far.
For Facebook — which, via Oculus, has significant investments in higher-end VR tech — the launch of Facebook 360 is aimed to make VR a more significant and seamless part of the Facebook experience. While hardware like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are more technically advanced VR devices, casual-friendly options like the Gear VR have a much lower cost of entry and are a popular way to introduce VR tech to general users. Having a central hub where people can easily check out VR content on Facebook neatly ties into the company’s larger goals for VR.
Facebook added support for 360-degree media back in 2015. And since then, the company has seen unprecedented response. Over 1 million 360 videos and 25 million 360 photos have been published and the company has now decided to go to town with a dedicated app for the content. And hence, the first ever, Facebook-branded VT application that is now doing the rounds of the market.
The best thing about Facebook 360 is that it makes it very easy to discover 360 media in a much more native manner. You can still watch the content over your smartphone or your desktop of course, but 360 degree media is meant to be watched over VR headsets and that is exactly what Facebook wants to encourage with its new app.
Facebook 360 is available through the Oculus app on any Gear VR-compatible device and the company hopes, that by making it easy to discover content, it will encourage more people to go for immersive media. You can use the application to watch 360-degree videos from artists, professional creators and buddies but what is more, you can also hop to their profile and follow them from right within the Gear VR app.
The app also allows you to save photos and videos for later. What’s more, you can also share them to your own profile page. The app can also be used to watch your own 360-degree media from the VR headset.
Facebook has also promised to add reactions to the app soon. What that means, is that the company feels that the 360-degree ecosystem is now ready to go social and now, there are enough people on-board to spark off a chain reaction. The company is now in the process of putting the required tools into their hands.
Meanwhile, Facebook has made an interesting choice in launching the app over Gear VR instead of Oculus Rift. Facebook helped developed this version of Gear VR, so it’s not all that strange. What is more, Gear VR has a much wider reach than most headsets out there. Launching the app over VR rather than Rift is thus a strategic decision that is probably smart under the circumstances. Once enough people get hooked, they could then go for the more premium Oculus headset as well.
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