Google announced back in June 2014 the launch of the “affordable” Google Cardboard VR head mount platform program. The cheap carboard viewer was intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR applications and it made it possible for millions of people to view immersive 360 video content cheaply by using their smart phone. Following this, in March 2015, YouTube started support hosting 360 video content and Facebook soon after in September. These two hosting services enabled content-creators, such as us here at 360imagery, to easily upload content for viewing.

Try it for yourself with the example above – with your mouse, click and drag within the video as it plays. Alternatively, open this link on your smartphone and you can look all around within the image using finger swipes or the gryoscope feature.

Over the past few years we have been increasingly asked to supply 360 video immersive content (both actual “realtime” footage and CGI animation, like the example above) for clients to showcase property developments and experiences.

By using a simple, affordable HUD (“Heads Up Display”) viewer, like the Cardboard, to more expensive options such as the Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift & HTC Hive, people can take a virtual, immersive experience like never before.

Not only can we create such immersive content, we can also turn our “standard” virtual tours into this media for viewing in a HUD viewer.