It’s the future, but far from it being a delightful slice of garlic bread, it’s the wonder that is VR videos and here’s our pick of the coolest cool 360 videos on the interweb. There’s everything from roller coasters and rap videos to jet plane flight skills and the brilliance of Red Bull’s F1 car 360 experience, but with such a burgeoning technology we’re expecting a lot more epic videos in the coming years.
AdvertisementThe science behind 360 degree videos has been around for a few years now, but as it has developed significantly over the last year, so we’re starting to see better videos and more opportunities to watch them in all their glory. 2016 saw things kick up a notch with two new technological breakthroughs with the release of virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift and the arrival of affordable, high quality 360 video cameras on the market for the everyday video nuts like us.
Our top 10 list of cool 360 degree videos
1 – Jet plane flight:
There’s a fair few 360 jet plane flight videos to watch on YouTube, but this one featuring the brilliant Blue Angels is the best we’ve been able to find. It just keeps getting cooler as you go, especially when the sun flares around your wing men’s jets. Try pausing it to take in the sheer beauty of some of the scenes.
2 – Roller-coaster
This video of a roller-coaster ride gives you a very cool taste of the immersive potential of 360 videos with the quick changes of direction and speed. It’s very well shot with good production values and it makes for a lot of fun whipping your head around with a VR headset on. If this doesn’t signal the need for a Theme Park port to the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR then we don’t know what does.
3 – Red Bull’s F1 car 360 experience
This is what 360 degree video was made for, giving you a chance to experience something like driving a Red Bull F1 car without having to leave the comfort of the living room. Not everyone gets to be Daniel Ricciardo, but we can all live the dream with this very cool flick.
4 – Redfoo’s Booty Man 360 music video
OK, so you can either judge us for the gratuity of including Redfoo’s butt bouncing Booty Man delivered in stunning 4K 360 degree video, or you can take in the comedy genius of it all. Either way, you can’t help but get a good idea from this forward thinking music video that VR may well be the future for MTV in the long-run, along with the more x-factored portions of the web.
5 – Swim with a whale shark in 360 degree video
This is another difficult fantasy to tick off in real life, but with this short 360 vid you get to take the plunge with one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures. With Discover VR taking its 360 degree cameras with it pretty much everywhere, we’re betting it’s only a matter of time before the first immersive nature programme gets commissioned.
6 – Scuba diving off the coast of Okinowa
Not everyone is comfortable going on oceanic scuba dives to see the incredible wildlife beneath the waves, but with videos like this you can get to experience it without getting the wetsuit and flippers out. With the likes of waterproof 360 video cameras like the 360fly 4K, you’ll also be able to capture your own amazing underwater experiences too.
7 – Get Barreled in Tahiti with Samsung Gear VR 360 surf video
It doesn’t get much cooler than surfing barrel waved in Tahiti, but capturing it all in epic 360 video just about pips it to the post. The wave looks very sharp as it curls around you.
8 – The Complete Guide to Beginner Snowboarding
We thought we’d add this one to our list because it does something very different with 360 video, showing that it’s also get some potential for guides and how-to videos, because it allows you to look at the detail you’re interested in without the need for cut scenes. Throw in some picturesque countryside and you’ve got a very nice beginner’s guide to snowboarding.
9 – More action-packed 360 snowboarding fun
It’s not got the best mountain run or snowboarding skills, but what this video shows is the potential for 360 to become the new standard in personal experience video, whether it’s capturing your own extreme sports moments or your first holiday with the other half. Instead of just looking at static pictures or video to relive memorable moments, you’ll be able to re-immerse yourself in them almost completely.
10 – Robin Schulz – Sugar (feat. Francesco Yates) (360° by FinCloud.tv)
Sometimes its not the content, but the concept that makes a video cool and that’s definitely the case with this well crafted video of a DJ set. We’re not big fans of the music or the DJ, but what this says is similar to the snowboarding video in #9, in that you’ll be able to capture the moments from great gigs or festivals you go to with even more glory than ever before. However, when you also add the fact that it’ll mean you’ll be able to experience them from afar if you can’t get tickets or the time off work, it should give you a good idea about how they can be used to deliver more exciting content in the future, which is exactly what they are.
You can check out the PSVR to see Sony’s tech in actio or visit the Oculus rift Twitter page at https://twitter.com/oculus to see the latest from the tech innovator.
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