Skip to main content

Click around sweet 3D Facebook posts as update adds more VR to News Feed

Virtual reality content isn’t just for Facebook Camera anymore. On Tuesday, February 20, Facebook added support for the GITF 2.0 file format — which means more interactive 3D posts are coming straight to your News Feed. The change brings more detailed interactive posts that allow users to scroll around in a 360 view of an object, all without leaving the News Feed.

Related Videos

Facebook announced 3D compatibility on the News Feed last fall, but the latest update adds support for an industry-standard file format. This format, Faceboook says, allows for more detailed interactive graphics to enter the News Feed, including 3D art that includes texture and lighting effects. Inside the News Feed, the more detailed 3D posts can be explored by tapping or clicking to explore every angle of the graphic.

Besides just the cool factor, the 3D posts open up potential real-world uses made possible by exploring the graphic from any angle. Wayfair, for example, has already used the new feature to allow Facebook fans to see furniture from every angle.

With the updated file format support, tech companies are already launching ways to use the new format. Sony has made the Xperia XZ1 3D Creator App scans compatible and Modo, a modeling software, has already built-in a Facebook-ready file feature. Facebook’s own Oculus Medium now allows users to share objects from the web gallery. Facebook is updating the GRAPH API to allow third-party apps to build the new format into their programs, so the number of 3D programs that can share to Facebook in-app will likely grow.

Facebook says the latest file format support is just the beginning — the social media giant is already discussing support for higher-quality 3D as well as mixing those 3D objects into the real world using augmented reality. “In the future, we envision a seamless digital world where people can share immersive experiences and objects like these across VR, AR and Facebook News Feed,” Facebook’s Aykud Gonen wrote on Facebook’s developer blog. “To get there, we’ll work on supporting even higher-quality 3D models, enabling interactive animations and bringing 3D content into the real world using AR. This is only the beginning, and we look forward to seeing the ecosystem of 3D content grow on Facebook as people, developers and artists contribute their creativity.”

Editors' Recommendations

I review phones for a living — here are the 10 apps I can’t live without
iPhone 14 Pro with custom home screen on Mickey Mouse phone holder next to flowers

For most of my life, I think I’ve had a pretty unique career path among my family and friends. Ever since I got the original iPhone, I’ve turned my love for writing into writing about technology, specifically mobile phones. Though I’ve pretty much been iPhone-only for most of my career, since I started at Digital Trends, I’ve been opening up to the world of Android.

Now that I’m checking out both iPhone and Android phones, the world of apps for me has expanded quite a bit. But regardless of what device I’m using, there are some apps that I need before anything else. Here are the first apps that I install when I get a new phone.
1Password (iOS and Android)

Read more
Samsung brings the Galaxy S23’s new software to older phones
Android 13 logo on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Samsung this week announced that it will be rolling out its latest One UI 5.1 software to current Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S22, Galaxy Z Fold 4, and Galaxy Z Flip 4 lineups. The company debuted the Android 13-powered One UI 5.1 update on the Galaxy S23 Ultra this month, and it's bringing those extra features to general users.

“One UI 5.1 is the up-to-date example of Samsung’s commitment to providing Galaxy users with the latest innovations as soon as possible,”  Samsung's Janghyun Yoon said in a blog post. “Over the past several weeks, we have worked closely with our service providers and carrier partners to bring One UI 5.1 to current Galaxy smartphones and tablets around the world within a few short weeks of the Galaxy S23 series announcement.”

Read more
Ranking all 16 iOS versions, from worst to best
iPhone 14 Pro with iOS 16 with custom home screen

In 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone on the stage at Macworld Expo in San Francisco. It has been 16 years since that announcement that changed the mobile industry as we know it; today, we now have 16 versions of iOS software that power our iPhones.

iOS has certainly come a long way, with iOS 16 letting us do things on our iPhone 14 that we never thought was possible a decade ago. But each version of iOS has its own strengths and weaknesses, with some releases being better than others.

Read more