Ready, set, live! Facebook tests live augmented reality, audio, and Stories

Both Stories and Camera are relative newcomers to Facebook. With the growing popularity of live video, it is not surprising that Facebook is testing new ways to go live, as well as places to share live videos beyond the news feed.

The Facebook Camera update allows the augmented reality camera option to serve as another method for accessing live video. For users that are part of the test, along with seeing the usual “normal” and “GIF” options inside Facebook Camera, Live also appears in the shooting options at the top of the screen.

Besides Facebook Camera’s easy accessibility with a quick swipe from the left, the Live feature appears to those AR selfie effects on live video, with access to the different effects even with the Live option selected. Along with effects designed for selfies like using facial recognition to turn users into a cat, Facebook Camera also includes other filters for adjusting color or turning a video into a painting — all still accessible with the live option selected.

Along with the ability to go Live from Facebook Camera, select users are also seeing the option to go live with audio only — a way for sharing live without being on camera, like sharing live podcasts.

Users that access Live from Facebook Camera have the option to write a description before starting the video — and that same dialog box also gives users the option to share the live video inside Stories. If Facebook’s test for Live Stories is successful, users will be able to add live videos to their Stories, a spot to share daily adventures using videos and photos that disappear the next day. Despite not growing as fast as Instagram’s variation of the feature, Facebook is testing several new options for the Snapchat-clone, including Stories on desktop. Facebook also recently launched the ability for public figures to use Stories.

Facebook is currently only testing the live features, so users that don’t see those options will have to be patient to see when (or if) Facebook does a global rollout.