Facebook introduced 360-degree panoramic photos on 9 June 2016. The company has come a long way from first introducing photos on the website, over a decade ago. Just like the videos, the identification mark of these photos will be a compass mark at their bottom.
The major surprise here is that these photos can be taken with any smartphone. These will also work on two VR platforms: Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR headset. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that from now on Facebook will show all of the following pictures into 360 photos:
- Panoramic view pics taken with an iOS device or a Samsung Galaxy phone
- Photospheres taken using the Google Camera, Street View, and Google Cardboard apps
- 360-degree camera images taken using the Samsung Gear 360, Ricoh Theta S, 360Fly, Giroptic 360 Cam, and ALLie Camera.
Last September, Facebook introduced 360-degree videos from partners like GoPro, Lucasfilm and Nat Geo. It also has a state-of-the-art 360-degree video camera. Since then, the innovation has fast gained popularity.
The company has a lot to gain from this. This not only encourages the mass to spend more time on it while tilting and moving the phone to take pictures, for which advertisers will pay more, it also sets the foundation for a higher immersive Oculus ecosystem.
How Do I Take 360 Photos?
- Use an iOS device or Samsung Galaxy phone or 360 photo app or 360 cameras.
- Open the Facebook app and share the photo as you normally do
- Once your photo is posted, tilt or rotate your phone to look around in your photo or any other 360-degree photo
- For Samsung Gear VR-compatible phones, there is a button at the top left corner of your photo that reads “View in VR.”
- Tap on that button and insert your phone into your Gear VR headset to see your 360 photos in virtual reality.
