If you spend a significant amount of your time on YouTube, you may have seen a few 360-degree videos there. These videos introduce a whole new experience and VideoLAN, the maker of VLC media player wants to bring that experience directly to you.
VideoLAN has released a technical preview of its Windows and Mac versions that allows users to play 360-degree videos. Given that this is a technical preview, you should expect bugs and other issues if you decide to download it. To bring support for 360-degree videos to the VLC app, VideoLAN has worked closely with Giroptic, a company that makes VR cameras.
You will be able to pan through the 360 videos using your mouse or keyboard. The technical preview released by VideoLAN does not just support 360-degree videos, it also supports panorama photos. As of now, VideoLAN has not revealed when the full version of VLC with support for 360-degree videos will be released. This version, VLC 3.0, will be the first to support 360 videos but VideoLAN has confirmed that the feature will also head to its mobile apps in the near future.
Besides these two platforms, the company has also said that the software will head to VR headsets next year. On the VR version, VideoLAN has also said that users should expect support for 360-degree audio and head tracking headphones.
Also Read: APP OF THE WEEK: Expeditions – Virtual World Trips