Facebook has started rolling out a recent update that now lets you snap 360-degree photos from the Facebook app and even use them as your profile cover photos. It is the first major update to cover photos since it was introduced back in 2011. The update is rolling out globally to Android as well as iOS platform.
To try out this new feature from Facebook, open the Facebook app and tap the “360 Photo” option in the drop-down menu within ‘What’s on your mind?’ status box. You will now see a Blue capture button, tap on it and slowly follow the path considering what you want to shoot from start to finish until you complete the panorama. When you’re done, pick the starting point for the photo and publish it on the social network.
Apart from using the 360-degree photos as cover photos, an additional feature allows you to zoom in and tag your friends. Every such image will be saved to your camera roll as well.
In order to capture 360-degree photos, Facebook is using machine learning and computer vision to automatically stitch to the photo together after you take it panorama-style while following the guide on the screen. It uses artificial intelligence, and therefore, a 360 camera is not required to use the new feature. However, for taking 360-degree videos, you will need a 360 camera to shoot the videos and upload them separately.
