In the past, GoPro has released experimental 360-degree virtual reality (VR) videos of sand dune jumping and skiing. The videos allowed viewers to feel like they are in the moment by having a unique viewing experience and gave a glimpse into the future of how virtual reality videos will be a major focus of video and content companies.
Now, GoPro just announced its third VR video of Tahiti surfing with Anthony Walsh and Matahi Drollet. The videos are part of a GoPro series created and shared exclusively on Facebook.
GoPro Inc. helps people capture and share their experiences through photos and videos. The company started out as an idea to help athletes self-document themselves engaged in their sport. But now as the cameras have grown to be used by consumers on a vacation to those on a ski slope, GoPro is looking to enhance their video content possibilities with VR.
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The release of the new video came at the same time of Facebook announcing their support for 360-degree videos on mobile devices. Users are now able to watch from desktops or iOS and Android devices.
“Viewers will not need a headset to access the new GoPro videos on Facebook,” the company said. “People can discover these immersive 360 videos right in News Feed on web, iOS, and Android, where viewers can choose what angle they want to see it from.”
The video content can be viewed by either dragging the mouse around the video on the web or using your finger to swipe in the direction you want to look at. This is a good opportunity for GoPro and other companies to market products with Facebook getting more than eight billion video views daily from 500 million users.
“We think people will share a lot more 360 content in the future, especially as technology makes it easier to record it themselves,” commented Facebook chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.
The 360-degree virtual reality videos creates a new marketing technique for companies. Virtual reality will continue to grow and more companies like GoPro will advertise and create content with virtual reality as it is poised to be the next big movement in online video.