Fun with 360-degree spherical media and virtual reality on your mobile phone

Some of you may already have heard of or experienced the Oculus virtual reality (VR) headset or saw the Samsung Gear VR on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  With these headsets, you can do cool things in VR like fight aliens in a spaceship, fly through the universe, stand in the middle of a forest and listen to the birds, dive in the open ocean with sharks, and so much more.  It's amazing to able to turn my head all around and see what's above me, behind me, and to the side of me. (looking down is a bit disconcerting since there may or may not be a body there!)  To be honest, watching a Democratic presidential debate (as demonstrated on the Colbert show) was not on my VR wish list...was it on yours?

wearing the Oculus VR headset

Did you know that you can do this with your mobile phone?  Right now?

Google Cardboard is a cheap and easy way to turn your phone into a VR headset.  There are several apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play that offer VR experiences.  I recently played around with the InMind VR app in the Apple App Store (also can be found in the Google Play Store for Android) using the cardboard VR headset and my iPhone.

a more affordable VR headset

The Cardboard product I am using is the KnoxLabs V2 Viewer.  It works pretty well and breaks down to fit inside its rectangular storage sleeve.  There are less expensive viewers available but this is the one I've been playing with.  Just be sure to buy version 2 (V2) as it has the conductive foam button to interact with the phone while it is encased in the cardboard.  And also consider putting a piece of shipping tape on the forehead portion and everywhere your face might touch to help avoid stains.

your mobile phone is inserted on its side in front of the lenses

Try 360-degree videos right now, even without a cardboard VR headset:

• Go to the YouTube app on your phone and search for the #360Video channel.
• Select a video for viewing. (did you click on the diving video??? :) )
• Move your phone around and the video will show that direction.  Pause the video, and you can still continue to move your phone in all directions to view the space.
• If you have a cardboard VR headset, you can select the "Cardboard" symbol in the YouTube video and your phone screen will split into two images for viewing through the lenses. (currently only available on Android, iOS coming soon)

Did you know that you can, right now, create your own VR videos using a 360-degree spherical camera?  Immerse into your memories time and time again...record your experiences like standing atop a mountain peak, a family get-together, driving down the Las Vegas Strip in a convertible, sky diving, and so on.  If you own a business, you can benefit from VR; for example, a real estate agent can replace the existing "360" photo tours with a Cardboard VR video so potential buyers can "look around" inside.  For creative types, make a 360 theatrical show or a "whodunnit" mystery game where you search for clues in rooms.  Teachers can take students on "VR fieldtrips"...perhaps to the Grand Canyon for a geology lesson, or Gettysburg for a history lesson; no need for transportation, chaperones or distractions from other students.  And so much more...the possibilities are endless.

Are you excited about 360 video?  How do you go about recording spherical videos?  The equipment can range from hooking up 16 GoPro cameras in a spherical frame to simple hand-held cameras that can be found on Amazon.  You can do a search on the internet to find all sorts of companies hawking their latest gadgets and rigs to support 360 videos, but not all of them are available yet since the concept is so new.  Here are a couple that caught my eye that are available now or soon:

• The Kodak SP360 is more of a "hemispherical" camera since it only has one lens.
• The Ricoh Theta M15 is a full spherical camera but currently only supports up to 3 minutes of video.  A newer model to be released end of October 2015, the Ricoh Theta S, will be able to record up to 25 minutes of video.
• Both Kodak and Ricoh videos can currently be uploaded to YouTube's #360Video channel if you follow their specific instructions.

I recently read an article about Facebook working on a virtual reality app so you can share your experiences with friends in the near future. 

Now that you're in the know, be an early adopter/pioneer and create awesome content.  Wouldn't be cool to produce student fieldtrips?  I certainly plan on adding 360 videos to my travel blog in the future. :)