Twitter adds 360-degree feature to live video streams
LOS ANGELES — Twitter is adding live 360-degree video streams to its service, courtesy of Periscope: The company officially rolled out support for live 360-degree video streams Wednesday, allowing users of Twitter’s and Periscope’s apps and website to pan within a live stream simply by moving their phone around.
Twitter debuted the new feature with a live stream from Periscope celebrity Alex Pettitt,
360 Sunset in Florida. First ever #Periscope360 with @Brandee_Anthony https://t.co/AZWbnnT15S
— Alex Pettitt (@Alexpettitt) December 28, 2016
Periscope recently added the ability to broadcast external video feeds via its service; now, this same feature has been extended to also work with 360-degree cameras. The ability to broadcast in live 360 is currently only available to a few select partners, but the Periscope team said in a blog post that it will be made available more widely in the coming weeks.
Twitter has been working for some time on integrating live 360-degree video as a first step towards embracing virtual reality. The company hired former Apple designer Alessandro Sabatelli as director of AR&VR in June, and briefly hired former Angelhack founder Greg Gopman as its VR program manager in October. However, Gopman was let go just days later after reports over past controversial remarks resurfaced.