You can now react with emojis when viewing VR videos in your Gear VR.
After acquiring Oculus in 2014, Facebook has been slowly looking at ways to integrate their connected network of global users more closely with the immersive world of VR.
Last November we started seeing early signs of what social VR content may look like when Facebook announced that 360-degree video playback would be supported for the Samsung Gear VR. Then in March, Facebook owned Oculus announced that you would be able to like and share your favorite Facebook 360 videos all within the Gear VR.
On Wednesday, Facebook finally added one of the final touches to 360-degree video for Oculus that was missing – emoji reactions.
Now you can add those animated emoji reactions we are all familiar with in the Newsfeed to Facebook 360 videos, all with the tap of your finger in VR.
In order to view or use emoji reactions, you will need to update your Oculus Video app on Gear VR and make sure your Facebook account is connected. After that, whenever you watch Facebook videos, you’ll be able to choose between the plain ol’ like button OR choose from one of five new emoji reactions. When viewing 360-degree videos, you’ll also be able to see others’ reactions float by on the screen as well.
According to a company spokesperson, Gear VR users will also be able to add reactions to 360 Photos, which the company began supporting earlier this month, in the coming weeks.
