Companies now want to join in on the virtual reality race. Instagram is hovering its finger on the virtual reality button.
Think Hefe filter, framed images.. That's what Instagram is most likely cooking up in their VR lab with Mike Krieger heading the team. The Chief Technology Officer is exploring the opportunity that virtual reality could bring when connected with the popular social media application. Using virtual reality headsets, users can be transported across each continent or around the world. Do you think that's a better way than scrolling down? Maybe. If you want a seamless, technology forward and cool way to explore photos.
Krieger is fascinated with the technology and using that technology to travel the world through Instagram is a unique way to teleport users to a different space and ".. just be somewhere different." The company, acquired by Facebook, hopes to let their users experience a different viewing experience.
In other related EW news, Krieger thinks it's an awesome idea to collaborate with Oculus Rift, the VR headset. That could already be something in the works as Oculus is also owned by Facebook.
It won't just be a different viewing experience for users. As Krieger puts it for EW, "Oh, what is it like actually to stand on the street corner and get a sense of the world from there' ... And do it with a filter."
Social media user experience will never be the same again. The possibilities of virtual reality especially in this day and age, then connect it with social media can both be profit generating for the company as well as increased user registrations.
With about 80 million photos being uploaded to Instagram everyday, the company already has the content to make this vision possible. To take it a notch further, involving virtual reality headsets can enhance user experience, in a post according to Variety.
