The new comms trend: 360 videos

How could your press office use them?

There is a new trend for 360 videos, which allow viewers to click and drag as the video plays - putting them in the shoes of the person filming. These could have many uses for government, not least for press officers. How much more interesting and emotive could government campaigns be? Take military recruitment, for example - imagine a video from an air force helicopter. Another obvious application is tourism videos. Videos from Bali, Sentosa or Tioman, could guide tourists in a way that is interactive and - most likely - virally shared on social networks. Equally, these videos could help policymakers. Officials who are considering an application for planning permission, for example, could send someone down to video an area during rush hour. This would show commuter patterns and how a new building would fit into a community. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg shared two on his facebook page this week. One showed the Facebook campus, demonstrating the potential to planning officials.

Check out this 360 video timelapse of Facebook's campus. I'm really enjoying these 360 videos. They feel like you're really looking around a new place.
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, 17 November 2015

The second was of a surfer, which would fit perfectly for tourism boards to promote key cities or activities in their respective countries.

Check out this 360 video of surfing in Tahiti shot by our friends at GoPro. I love these new 360 videos on Facebook -- they feel so much more immersive.
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Friday, 13 November 2015