Mumbai: Social media giant Facebook has been rolling out several new features to improve its platform. In a move to further expand its features, the company is now launching a new feature to convert normal panorama images into ‘360 Photos’ that will be displayed on a user’s feed.
According to a report on TechCrunch, the panoramas clicked by users on their phone will get a far better viewing experience on Facebook’s news, and also on Samsung’s Gear VR, which is powered by the Oculus Rift.
The feature, dubbed ’360 photos’, will allow users to upload plain panoramas shot on iPhones, Google Photo Spheres or photos from 360-degree cameras.
Facebook will then morph the photos and users will be able to hold and drag the photos around; on the Gear VR, users just need to move their heads to get a 360-degree view of the images.
The report pointed out that the inception of this feature can popularise VR content creation among the masses by allowing individuals to upload 360-degree images easily, without the requisite for any special equipment.
All the users require is an iPhone running on iOS 6 or higher or an Android device with v4.2 and above; even 360-degree photo apps will serve the purpose.
In addition, Facebook has also released Gear VR users’ statistics, which revealed that the device has been already used by more than a million people, each one spending an average of 25 minutes per day with the headset.
This is an encouragement for developers who are planning to integrate new features to the Gear VR.
