YouTube’s video player will soon support a futuristic innovation. Gizmodo is reporting that the world’s most popular video site is planning an update that will allow the site to support 360-degree video uploads.
The videos in questions are shot with hi-tech cameras like Ricoh’s Theta and Kodak’s SP360, which allow users to capture panoramic footage of their surroundings. As Gizmodo explains, 360-degree camera are particularly compatible with virtual reality headsets; the tech blog raised the possibility of a “potent combination” between YouTube and Google Cardboard, the VR project in the works at Google.
YouTube offered its own statement on the possibility of 360-degree videos. “Ever wanted to get 360 perspectives on a video to see everything going on?” a company spokesperson told Gizmodo, “That’s why we’re working to support 360-degree videos in the coming weeks.”
Compatibility with 360-degree camera would be the latest in a line of technological improvements YouTube has rolled out over the past couple months. Most significantly, it recently gave users the ability to upload videos in high frame rates, which has proved a welcome feature for the site’s community of gamers. This could lead to some more diverse vlogs or creative videos with this new feature, only time will tell.
What are your thoughts?
I am very excited for this development. I bought a Ricoh Theta last month and I’ve been having lots of fun with the photos. I haven’t had a chance to test the video, but was wondering how to get around the sharing limits in Ricoh’s viewer (you can record 3-minutes of video on the Theta and watch/spin the footage on a desktop, but can only share 10-second loops via their site). This YouTube announcement really opens up the possibilities of the Theta as a tool for video-making and animation for me.