When Facebook Brought 360-Degree Video to the News Feed (2015)

In late September 2015, Facebook rolled out native 360-degree video support across its web platform and Android app, giving users an interactive way to explore scenes directly from their News Feeds. By dragging an on-screen cursor on desktop or rotating a handset in physical space, viewers could look around in every direction inside a recorded environment.

Launch Partners and Technology

To capture footage for the format, creators used specialised multi-camera rigs stitched into panoramic spherical video. Facebook partnered with high-profile creators and brands at launch, including GoPro, Discovery Channel, Saturday Night Live, and Lucasfilm, which debuted an exclusive 360-degree experience set in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens universe.

A Step Toward Virtual Reality

Maher Saba, Facebook's video engineering director at the time, framed 360-degree video as an important step toward richer, more immersive digital storytelling. The feature paved the way for Facebook's broader push into virtual reality hardware and 360-degree spatial media over subsequent years.