360° video

In a 360° video, the action is recorded in all directions simultaneously. 360° video can be shot with special cameras that contain two 180° lenses, or by creating an array of several normal cameras to record in different directions. In the simplest array, there are two cameras with super wide angle lenses that record in two directions; better setups use six or more cameras. The result is that the viewer can view "around" him or herself by determining the view direction.

To do so on a PC, drag the mouse during playback. On mobile devices, the built-in orientation sensor can be used: The view direction follows the device's rotation. In combination with VR glasses or a smartphone attachment such as Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard, it is possible to be completely submerged in a virtual environment with a 360° video. 360° videos are supported by the most important video platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.

Technically, 360° videos are regular, two-dimensional videos. The images of the sphere surface around the camera are displayed distorted, similarly to how the earth's surface is projected onto flat maps of the world. This results in relatively large videos in order to provide enough resolution along the strongly distorted edges after rectification.