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Facebook outlines advancements in 360 video for Gear VR

Facebook and Oculus are continue aiming for a greater social experience in virtual reality, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussing some of the advancements that are set to hit Samsung's Gear VR soon.

Ozzie Mejia

February 21, 2016 3:55 PM

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While this morning's big news surrounded the HTC Vive's pricing, there's still another virtual reality headset getting ready to release very soon. On the heels of Oculus Rift's consumer release, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined some of the upcoming long-term plans for the Gear VR headset and mobile virtual reality during this weekend's Mobile World Congress, citing major advancements in 360 video technology, in particular.

Facebook has noted that since Gear VR was released back in November, over 200 games and apps have been released with over 1 million hours of 360 video viewed. Over 20,000 360 videos have been uploaded to Facebook thus far, but the company is looking to increase the technology's power in the coming months. Facebook's proprietary dynamic streaming tech (revealed back in January) is expected to hit Gear VR soon, increasing resolution fourfold and reducing the required network bandwidth.

"I think about my baby daughter and the way I want to remember when she takes her first steps," said Zuckerberg. "When I took my first steps, my parents just took a pen and wrote the date down in a baby book... when my cousin, when her son took his first steps, she took a photo with a camera. My sister, when her son took his first steps, she took a video on her phone. But I want to capture the whole scene. So, I hope we can take a 360 video. So that way, even if my parents and my family aren't there to experience it in person, they can feel like they're right there with us. VR is the next platform, where anyone can create and experience anything they want."

Zuckerberg went on to announce the formation of a new Social VR team dedicated to building on social interaction in virtual reality. The team will work with the teams at Oculus, Samsung, and other teams at Facebook to create what Zuckerberg says will be a greater social experience. More information on today's announcements can be found over on the Facebook Newsroom.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?