VLC is introducing support for 360 degree videos

VLC, one of the most popular and diverse media player, has released a technical preview of their new player which supports 360-degree videos. This feature will be included in the public release of VLC 3.0, which is expected sometime in the next month.

What are 360-degree videos?

360-degree videos, also known as immersive or spherical videos, are shot using special cameras which record in all directions at the same time. These videos are gaining more popularity with recent developments in virtual reality. Web sites like YouTube and Facebook already support this new video format and they can be viewed in almost all new browsers.

Support for 360-degree videos in VLC

VLC’s creators VideoLan teamed up with 360-degree camera maker Giroptic to develop its support for 36 0-degree videos. VLC will soon be able to display 360-degree photos, panoramas, and videos. Users will be able to use their mouse and keyboard to control point of view in the footage.

VideoLan says it will make these features available on its mobile apps as well, and let users navigate the clips by moving their accelerometer-carrying devices around. It also said it will support VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift, Google’s

VideoLAN says it will make these features available on its mobile apps as well, and let users navigate the clips by moving their accelerometer-carrying devices around. It also said it will support VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift, Google’s Daydream, and the HTC

Availability

With this release of the technical preview of their new 360-degree capable player, VLC has become one of the first native video players to support this new format. These features will make its way into VLC 3.0, which is slated for a release sometime in the next month. Until it becomes available in the stable version, you can check out the technical preview for MacOS and Windows here.