Last week, YouTube announced that 360-degree video live streaming was now supported on the platform, and that the Coachella music festival was the first to use the new feature.
It was back in March 2015 that support for 360-degree videos was first launched, allowing musicians, athletes, brands, and creators to do some incredible things with the new technology.
But as 360-degree live streaming comes on YouTube, chief product officer Neal Mohan wrote on the company’s Google Blog that even more fans will be invited into the world of the people they follow.
At the same time, the video platform announced the launch of directional audio for on-demand videos for the Android operating system.
This allows users to hear audio in 360-degree videos in relation to the angle they choose to view the live stream, which makes for “a more immersive experience.”
YouTube has also provided users with a playlist of six 360-degree videos using directional audio, but the function can only work on Android devices for now; the company said its availability will expand over time.
Mohan also made some people very happy by announcing that some of the Coachella performances were going to be live streamed in 360 degrees this past weekend.
Sadly, users did not get to hear the live Coachella performances in spatial audio because this feature is only supported on on-demand videos.
YouTube is the first video platform to support live 360-degree video streaming and spatial audio at this scale. The Google-owned service also had to incorporate some technical improvements to the site to live 360-degree videos possible and working as seamless as it can.
According to a report from The Verge, creators are now able to live stream 360 videos at a whopping resolution of 1440p and 60 frames per second.
But there is a significant hurdle in trying to take advantage these new features; they only work if creators set up a new camera rig that’s integrated with YouTube.
The prices of the new camera rigs that take advantage of these new features range from cheaper $350 Ricoh Theta and the newly announced $ALLie Camera, to the higher-end Orah 4i available for $1,800.
If you can’t afford to experiment with live 360-degree videos, there are some YouTube Space locations that you can go to and try it out. These new features could provide YouTube with some momentum before the annual I/O Conference in May.
Google is also looking forward to launching a new version of the Cardboard VR goggles after all 360-degree videos on YouTube have been made compatible with the accessory last fall.
Image Source: Android Authority
