YouTube is getting 360-degree videos

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

YouTube is to add support for 360-degree videos in the coming weeks.

The new feature, first reported by Gizmodo, will allow users to upload videos taken with the special 360-degree cameras that are on their way into the market. Many of those take the videos in different ways and with different results — and YouTube’s challenge is getting all of those different kinds of video to work on the site, according to the gadget blog.

It’s unclear whether the videos will be viewable for anyone using a computer, or if they will require a virtual reality headset to look around the scene.

Google, which owns YouTube, showed off its concept for giving everyone virtual reality goggles last year. Google Cardboard involves making a small set of just a piece of cardboard and your phone, allowing anyone to make a set of goggle quickly and easily. The 360-degree YouTube videos could easily support such technology.

But it might also be available for the growing array of more high-tech goggles, including Samsung’s Gear VR.

The feature will come “in the coming weeks”, according to a statement from a Google spokesperson given to Gizmodo.