Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Facebook Live now lets you broadcast in VR using the Oculus Rift ‘Spaces’ app

By
Introducing Live from Facebook Spaces: An Easy Way to Share VR with Friends
When Facebook acquired virtual reality headset maker Oculus and gained access to its main product, the Oculus Rift, the assumption was that VR experiences would increasingly make their way to the social media giant. So far, the VR headset has been successful in its own right, and the Oculus Spaces app has served as the main point of entry for using Facebook in a somewhat limited VR environment.
Recommended Videos

Now, Oculus Spaces is getting a brand-new feature that should significantly enhance the social sharing aspect of the experience. Spaces will now allow users to share Facebook Live video sessions that are generated from within the app, as Road to VR reports.

Related

The new Live support means that users can now set up a virtual camera in Oculus Spaces that can be positioned anywhere in the VR environment and broadcast to other Facebook users — just like with a 2D Live session. This builds on Spaces‘ current ability to share selfies and add them to the Facebook Timeline, as well as the Facebook Messenger call feature that lets users engage in “VR-to-reality” videoconferences.

The Spaces version of Facebook Live will work just like it does on other platforms. Facebook friends can comment and ask questions during Live sessions, and the VR user who’s doing the broadcasting will be able to see the usual emoji reactions, and will have the option of picking comments and highlighting them to the audience.

Facebook is highlighting the educational and business value of the new Live feature, showing off in its promotional video how teachers could enact “VR office hours” to meet with students who are also equipped with their own Oculus Rifts in more natural simulated environments. Other students without VR headsets could view the sessions, just like any other Facebook Live broadcast.

The new feature is live (no pun intended) in Spaces as of today. You can download it or install the latest update, and you should be ready to go Live on your Oculus Rift. Check out our Oculus Rift review to see if this is the right VR platform for you.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock
Computing Writer
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
Amazon’s new AR app lets you have fun with all those Prime Day boxes
amazons new ar app offers interactive fun with its boxes amazon augmented reality

Try a spooktaculAR experience this Halloween

The online shopping frenzy that is Amazon Prime Day is pretty much upon us again, with customers around the world gearing up to splash the cash on all manner of cut-price goodies.

Read more
How to build a cheap VR-ready PC

It's been a couple years since the VR renaissance kicked off in earnest, and things are looking up for VR. The HTC Vive and Oculus Rift have now upgraded to the Cosmos and the Rift S, respectively, while Sony's PlayStation VR offers an excellent entry point for console gamers, and there are hundreds of VR titles on the Steam store alone. VR is growing, but some steep barriers to entry are keeping interested enthusiasts from taking the plunge.

The biggest barrier is a simple one: Price. PC gaming is an expensive hobby, and tacking on VR is another $300 to $700, depending on what you buy. But there are some simple ways to save: The secret is building the right PC for your VR system on the cheap, and we know how to do it.

Read more
Oculus, Tidal team up to livestream concerts in VR

Oculus and Tidal are partnering to bring livestreamed music performances to virtual reality, the companies announced Wednesday.

The exclusive concerts will be streamed on the Venues app on the Oculus Quest starting later this year. The performances will also be available in regular 2D video and high-quality audio on Tidal.

Read more