As VR technology progresses more and more, we find ourselves in a situation where the field of IT is dominated by these new machines capable of taking us different places without actually having to leave. So of course a number of companies are going to adapt and start producing software for the new VR technology. So, get ready to enjoy 360° photos with Yahoo’s Flickr app for Samsung Gear VR.
- Yahoo! almost bought Google before it went public
- The exclamation point after ‘Yahoo!’ is there because there was already a barbecue sauce company that owned ‘Yahoo’
- This summer there were over 10 billion photos uploaded on Flickr
- There were also over 112 million users with accounts on the platform
- This March, The Flickr Commons digital collection had been viewed 1.3 billion times
With such impressive numbers on their side, no wonder Yahoo! wanted to get their Flickr platform in on the virtual reality action.
So, after talking to the people behind Samsung’s Gear VR, the company launched an app designed especially for the virtual reality headset.
Even though Flickr already had apps for multiple platforms, this new one will allow users to view the huge collection of images hosted on the website not only in amazing 3-D, but also in landscape mode.
This will give users a full 360 degree experience while wearing the VR headset, allowing them to enjoy tens of thousands of high definition photos, making them feel like they were actually there.
Currently, the service will only be available to those with Samsung smartphones, since they are currently the only brand supported by the Gear VR.
This lets Yahoo! join the numbers of the many companies that are already producing content for Samsung’s virtual reality device.
And even though the Flickr virtual reality service is currently only available for the Gear VR, it’s very likely that in the near future Yahoo! will make the service available for the other virtual reality platforms on the market, like Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, and Oculus.
Bertrand Fan, the principal engineer behind Flickr’s new feature, claims that anyone who views Flickr 360 degree photos for the first time will not want to take the device off, as the experience of seeing the HD photos and feeling like you’re there is absolutely breathtaking.
Image source: Wikimedia
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