YouTube is launching live streaming for 360-degree videos. The service will kick off with California’s Coachella music and arts festival being broadcast in the new format. The Google-owned company will expand its 360 video platform by allowing users with virtual reality headsets or standard web browsers to watch some performances from the festival this weekend. 360-degree videos have been […]
YouTube is launching live streaming for 360-degree videos. The service will kick off with California’s Coachella music and arts festival being broadcast in the new format.
The Google-owned company will expand its 360 video platform by allowing users with virtual reality headsets or standard web browsers to watch some performances from the festival this weekend.
360-degree videos have been supported by YouTube since March 2015. The video format is also supported by Facebook, with content filmed using 360-degree camera rigs.
Were also launching spatial audio for on-demand YouTube videos. Just as watching a concert in 360 degrees can give you an unmatched immersive experience, spatial audio allows you to listen along as you do in real life, where depth, distance and intensity all play a role, said Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer at YouTube, in a blog.
He said the video platform was working with a number of companies to make 360-degree video software capable of supporting live video.
“What excites me most about 360-degree storytelling is that it lets us open up the world’s experiences to everyone,” Mohan said in a blog post.
“Students can now experience news events in the classroom as they unfold.”
YouTube’s announcement follows similar moves by rival firms to support 360-degree video.
At Facebook’s F8 developer conference, held earlier in April, the company announced it had created an open source 360-degree video camera that anyone with enough money could build themselves.
