Digital Trends
Emerging Tech

Flickr will soon let you take gorgeous virtual tours of panoramic photos

Kelly Hodgkins
By —

flickr virtual reality panorama shutterstock 271100504
Stefano Tinti / Shutterstock
Flickr is planning to improve its user experience by adding support for virtual reality devices and is giving early demos of the technology to select publications, including Engadget. The virtual reality experience intends to integrate with the company’s photo service, working initially with panorama photos in a radical 360-degree view.

Still in the early stages of development, the technology initially supports the Oculus virtual reality units, though the company hopes to offer support for the Gear VR and other VR headsets in the future. The early demo of the technology, hosted by Flickr engineer and project lead Bertrand Fan, used an Oculus DK 2 connected to a PC that allowed a user to pan their head as they viewed 360-degree panorama photos. The immersive VR experience allowed the user to turn all the way around to view the entire panoramic photo.

20716692923_c1d1f7829d_h

recgorski / Flickr

Though Fan has only worked on the project for a matter of weeks, he claims to have big plans for the future of the tech. The feature already includes eye control as a means of advancing through a slideshow of 360-degree VR photos, however, Fan doesn’t want to stop there. He also envisions an advanced gesture-based user interface which would allow you to browse your library and organize your photos using only hand gestures and other virtual reality interactions.

Flickr wants to provide the best experience for its 360-degree photos, which continues to grow in popularity and already features several dedicated communities. For starters, all 360-degree photos which support this virtual reality view will be tagged with a headset link or button that then opens the VR connection. To make it easy to discover this VR-enabled content, Flickr also plans to add a dedicated 360-degree panorama category in the explore section of the photo hosting service.

Fan hopes to completely introduce Flickr’s new VR feature to the general public early next year, however, users should be on the lookout for some virtual reality links to show up on individual photo pages. If you have a spare VR unit kicking around, you can even give the feature a spin when it starts to gradually make its debut.

Editors' Recommendations

Don't Miss

Get your Sagan on with 60 awe-inspiring photos of the final frontier
Up Next

Google's Eric Schmidt is optimistic that advanced AI won't kill us all
houzz ar tile story vimr tiles edits for article add to cart
Smart Home

The Houzz app now lets you virtually tile your floor with augmented reality

Augmented reality is starting to be a real bonus to apps like Houzz's View in My Room 3D tool, which recently added the ability to measure how a tiled floor might look in your living space.
Posted — By Clayton Moore
Stream data Elements hatchet Ninja Fortnite Apex Legends Shroud
Gaming

Streaming data reveals Ninja isn’t Twitch king, Fortnite still reigns supreme

Stream Elements and Stream Hatchet teamed up to produce the State of the Stream Q1 2019, a report that reveals a multitude of data. A few takeaways include Ninja not producing the best month of views, and Apex Legends' performance diving.
Posted — By Charles Singletary Jr.
2020 Toyota Supra
Cars

The VR goggles you wear to shoot alien ships is helping Magna design car parts

Canadian automotive supplier Magna has started using virtual reality in its research and development department. The technology helps engineers get a better view of what they're working on, whether it's an interior part or a powertrain.
Posted — By Ronan Glon
pig organs aid human transpant patients 900x600
Emerging Tech

Yale scientists restore cellular activity in a pig’s brain hours after its death

In what some may view as a porcine version of Frankenstein, Yale University scientists have restored circulation and cellular activity in a pig’s brain four hours after its death. The study is likely to be used to study brain function
Posted — By Luke Dormehl
israel beresheet landing live merlin 153384480 02bcd370 3ebe 47ad acd7 4d0784eefc35 jumbo 1
Emerging Tech

Beresheet crash caused by manual command, but reflector device may have survived

Details are emerging about what may have gone wrong with spacecraft Beresheet's failed moon landing. A manual command was entered which led to a chain reaction. But NASA still hopes to salvage use of its Laser Retroreflector Array device.
Posted — By Georgina Torbet
sofia helium hydride detected heh v10 1
Emerging Tech

The oldest type of molecule in the universe has been located at last

A milestone in the development of the early universe was the combination of helium and hydrogen atoms into a molecule called helium hydride. But strangely enough, this ancient molecule has never been detected in space before now.
Posted — By Georgina Torbet
hydrostor grid of the future feat
Emerging Tech

The grid of the future will be powered by … giant subterranean bagpipes?

In order to transition to a more renewable-focused energy system, we need to scale up our grid storage capacity --- and our existing methods aren't going to cut it. Could compressed air be the key?
Posted — By Drew Prindle
messenger nasas mercury orbiting spacecraft ends 11 year mission with impact nasamessenger8
Emerging Tech

Mercury’s wobble as it spins reveals that it has an inner solid core

Scientists have long wondered what the inside of Mercury looks like, and they now have strong evidence that the planet has a large and solid metallic core. The data for the new findings was collected by the now-defunct MESSENGER mission.
Posted — By Georgina Torbet
messier 62 hubble image comet or cluster
Emerging Tech

Gravitational forces at heart of Milky Way shaped this star cluster like a comet

Hubble has captured the stunning Messier 62 cluster. The cluster is warped, with a long tail which stretches out to form a shape like a comet. It is thought this distortion is due to Messier 62's proximity to the center of the galaxy.
Posted — By Georgina Torbet
is lab grown meat real life or it just delicious fantasy cultured beef 02
Emerging Tech

Burgers are just the beginning: Embracing the future of lab-grown everything

You’ve almost certainly heard of the 'farm to fork' movement, but what about 'lab to table'? Welcome to the fast-evolving world of lab-grown meat. Is this the future of food as we know it?
Posted — By Luke Dormehl
Cilmeworks Plan to fight Climate Change | Troubleshooting Earth
Emerging Tech

Troubleshooting Earth

It’s no secret that humans are killing the planet. Some say it’s actually so bad that we’re hurtling toward a sixth major extinction event -- one which we ourselves are causing. But can technology help us undo the damage we’ve…
Posted — By Drew Prindle
ocean cleanup project boyan slat interview bird plastic feat
Emerging Tech

Inside the Ocean Cleanup’s ambitious plan to rid the ocean of plastic waste

In 2013, Boyan Slat crowdfunded $2.2 million to fund the Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organization that builds big, floating trash collectors and sets them out to sea, where they’re designed to autonomously gobble up garbage.
Posted — By Dyllan Furness
Cilmeworks Plan to fight Climate Change | Troubleshooting Earth
Emerging Tech

Climeworks wants to clean the atmosphere with a fleet of truck-sized vacuums

Using machines that resemble jet engines, Climeworks wants to fight climate change by extracting CO2 from thin air. The gas can then be sold to carbonated drink and agriculture companies, or sequestered underground.
Posted — By Dyllan Furness
3d printed prostheses revolution christophe debard print my leg feat
Emerging Tech

How 3D printing has changed the world of prosthetic limbs forever

When he was 13 years old, Christophe Debard had his leg amputated. Here in 2019, Debard's Print My Leg startup helps others to create 3D-printed prostheses. Welcome to a growing revolution!
Posted — By Luke Dormehl