Facebook debuts 360 degree live video streaming on National Geographic's page

Facebook has introduced 360 degree live streaming on its platform, with National Geographic as the first page to debut the new feature. National Geographic will go Live at 1:30 AM on 14 December, IST, from the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) facility in Utah. The MDRS is an isolation test where scientists from around the world are simulating the exercise of being pioneers on Mars. After eighty days, the scientists will emerge from isolation in their pods, and National Geographic will capture the moment in a live 360 degree experience. A tour of the living quarters, the scientists suiting up with space equipment, and a spin on a Martian Rover are all planned. The MDRS simulation is similar to the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (Hi-Seas) simulation by Nasa, which also simulated crew operations of a manned mission to Mars. Immersive 360-degree videos were used to reduce the isolation of the homesick astronauts.

Facebook Live can bring you action from remote locations in real-time and 360 degree videos are an immersive experience. Now Facebook has put the two together to offer a real-time immersive experience. More pages over the course of the next few months are expected to get support for live 360 degree videos through the Facebook Live API. The feature is expected to roll out to all pages and profiles some time in 2017. In April this year, YouTube had added support for the  live streaming of 360 degree videos .