Facebook and Oculus make it easier to share virtual reality (VR) gaming experiences to family and friends online.
On Friday, Oculus announced the newest social media feature of its Gear VR. It allows users to do live streaming of their gaming sessions straight onto the networking site. The update offers a "Livestream to Facebook" button that works like going live on the smartphone apps.
Oculus VR partners with Facebook
According to The Verge, Oculus wants to "share the magic" of VR to more people. Apparently, it is a difficult concept to understand especially without seeing it personally. The reason why the VR company chose Facebook over Twitch and YouTube Gaming is to provide a venue for players to share their gameplay to the closest peers only.
The Facebook update is currently available to Gear VR users outside of the United States. Nonetheless, it is "coming soon" to all gamers with the latest version of Android on their Samsung handsets. Oculus Rooms, meanwhile, added support for voice search too.
Well, the onscreen keyboards in VR are the nastiest things to navigate to date. Thus, the installation of a voice search will somehow ease the frustrations. Users need to tap on "Search" in the TV area and click on the mic icon then speak to search for any Facebook content they want to watch with friends.
Facebook 360 videos & Oculus events
According to Tech Crunch, Oculus earlier introduced the addition of 360-degree photos and videos to Facebook. Moreover, another spec lets people find public events and interact with other players in Gear VR. The latter feature was rolled out in the English-language as early as Friday.
The Oculus Events range from multiplayer games and tournaments to tech talks and trivia. It adds a whole new level of interaction online, like on Facebook, while also highlighting public events on a wider scale. Users can check out a full list of scheduled happenings in the Events tab. They can also set reminders for future online gatherings by marking it as a sign of interest.
