Facebook News Feed now includes 360-degree videos, allowing viewers to see the whole scene where the video was made.The near-virtual reality (VR) clips can be watched on PC browsers and Android mobile devices, and will be available on iOS gadgets in the next months.
Facebook's Chief Product Officer (CPO) Chris Cox announced the news on September 23, Wednesday. It was in a company blog post.
The videos can be viewed on a desktop by using a mouse to drag the image. Meanwhile, on a smartphone users can drag the clip with their finger or turn their feet to create the illusion of a panoramic view.
Facebook launched the new feature and many videos to showcase it. They included a teaser trailer for the new Star Wars movie.
A GoPro motocross video was also released. The action camera manufacturer will roll out a 360-degree camera rig, according to PC World.
Several other companies have published footage for the 360-degree video platform. It includes LeBron James, Saturday Night Live, and Discovery, according to Engadget.
The social network has shared that its new videos are not only for publishers. Facebook users can also publish 360-degree clips if they have a multi-camera rig.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that videos should be the focus of social networks. Meanwhile, he believes that the next big thing will be VR.
The social media giant invested $2 billion last year to purchase VR headset maker Oculus. It is scheduled to ship units by March.
360-degree videos could drive VR headset demand. Besides Google's Cardboard VR headset, GoPro, Nokia, and YouTube are developing VR devices or platforms.