Dive Brief:
- Facebook is hoping to bring a virtual reality experience to mobile video with a 360-degree video app.
- Mobile users would control their view of the VR videos by tilting their phones while watching videos in the standalone app.
- At the moment the app is in early development with no certainty that it will be released.
Dive Insight:
Facebook is a major player in the virtual reality space, and is looking to flex its muscles.
It famously purchased virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift in 2014 for $2 billion, and is now floating a standalone app currently under development that would allow mobile users to view 360-degree videos. In March, Facebook announced its New Feed would begin natively supporting 360-degree video content, which is shot with multiple cameras giving the viewer more than one angle to watch the video from.
The potential app should be interesting for marketers. Particularly for B2B marketers, virtual reality is seen as a new, very rich media experience they can tap to tell compelling stories beyond what can be experienced on a desktop or laptop. Having an option for virtual reality-lite that can be viewed on a smartphone and doesn’t require cumbersome headsets or other gear might be attractive for marketers wanting to offer a more immersive and unique experience without the potentially high price tag.
