VR headset support coming in 2017.
The popular open source media player that practically plays any video format on any platform has now added support for 360° videos. The latest support comes to its desktop versions with a plan to rollout 360° support to its mobile apps in the near future as well.
The company behind VLC, VideoLan, teamed up with 360° camera company Giroptic to develop the new features, which lets you display photos, panoramas and videos. For the desktop update, you can use your mouse and keyboard to control your point of view. And when the mobile app update releases, you’ll be able to navigate clips by moving your device around, similar to what we have all grown used to from other 360° media players.
PHOTO mode
The company also announced that they will support VR headsets like the Oculus Rift, Google’s Daydream, and the HTC Vive in 2017. In addition, we can expect 360° audio support at a later time as well, a feature that will be necessary for implementing VLC on VR headsets
Keep in mind that this is just a technical preview for now, so you can expect some bugs as the team continues to update and refine the media player. Either way, a VLC push into VR is a welcome addition, especially once we get support across all platforms and VR headsets.
