People on Facebook can now view a video from all angles.
As the social media giant wades into virtual reality, Facebook said Wednesday it was rolling out 360-degree videos, allowing its 1.5 billion users to view a video from multiple angles by dragging their computer s cursor or fingers on a cell phone.
On the phone especially, slowly turning around and tilting your device up and down to watch a scene as it s playing is a really cool experience that takes you somewhere else. It s the kind of thing that you run over to show someone else the moment you first see it, wrote Chris Cox, Facebook s chief product officer, in a post about the topic on Wednesday.
Disney, which is scheduled to release Star Wars: The ForceAwakens in December, is promoting the film by allowing Facebook users through a 360-degree video to explore planet Jakku while traveling on Rey s speeder.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg first announced 360-degree videos during the company s developer conference in March. Company executives wrote Wednesday that the new product will roll out first on desktop and Android in a few days, and then to iOS devices in the coming months.
The Menlo Park tech firm has been releasing new features for videos, including live video streaming for celebrities, public figures and journalists while fueling the growth of video views on the site. Facebook topped 4 billion video views daily this year.
Photo Credit: Screenshot of Facebook s 360 degree videos
