For a long time now the world of video technology had become almost stagnant. Videos, advertising and cinema had not moved ahead of the 3D technology in main-stream. 360 degree videos is a breakthrough technology and with tech giants like YouTube and Facebook already supporting the 360 degree videos, the technology has taken a leap of development. 360 degree is almost used interchangeably now with Virtual Reality videos as they give a viewer a complete immersive experience when viewed in the VR headsets.
A 360 degree video, as the name suggests is a full spherical live action video. It is not a computer generated environment. It is real. Hence calling it Virtual Reality is not really correct. But, as it takes the viewer into a foreign environment while at home or office or any other place, people call a 360 degree video a Virtual Reality Video.
There are special cameras available in the market to shoot 360 degree videos for example Ricoh Theta, Nokia OZO, Giroptic, Freedom 360. There are different rigs as well which mount multiple cameras which are then stitched together on the editing table to make a full spherical 360 degree video. After YouTube and Facebook started supporting 360 degree videos both the websites were flooded with 360 degree content. People had used 360 degree pictures before and hence this new kind of videography found easy acceptance and when it was viewed in the high tech VR headsets like the Samsung Gear VR, it was a very new experience for audiences world-wide.
360 degree videos have already gone viral on the internet and with the amount of money that is being pumped in for the research this new kid on the block is sure to find a lot of success and acceptance in the coming future.