James R | On 14, Apr 2016

Game of Thrones has released a 360-degree video of its opening credits in collaboration with Facebook.

The interactive video allows fans to watch the intricate opening titles, complete with moving models and sweeping scenery, in 360 degrees.

The sequence, which is available exclusively on the Game of Thrones Facebook page, was produced in partnership with Facebook’s Oculus and was unveiled after the premiere of Season 6 in Hollywood. The immersive experience is now available to watch on computers and on iOS and Android devices, with support for Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift headsets coming soon.

The promotional video is far from a one-off stunt, though. HBO fully embraced the social network’s video platform, with a live-stream of the premiere on its Facebook page this week.

Facebook, meanwhile, is taking virtual reality increasingly seriously, with the social network announcing plans at its F8 developer event this week to release a design and software code for a 360-degree camera. The extravagant camera rig would consist of 17 of them bolted together, including a fish-eye lens, and a computer programme to stitch the videos together. Facebook won’t build the camera itself to sell, but hopes that others will use the open-source details to build their own.

Facebook also announced that it would be seeking to develop the social potential for VR, with the social network ambitious about sharing intimate interactions over long distances. At the same time, its video platform continues to evolve, with Facebook’s director of machine learning Joaquin Quiñonero Candela confirming that they would soon be introducing tagging on videos, so that users can search for friends any videos they have shared on the site.

“Say you are on a live video feed with a friend and another friend walks into the video and has a brief conversation with you. Typically, that would be a very ephemeral experience because it would be hard to find this moment again,” explains Techcrunch. Soon, though, that moment will hopefully be indexed to allow Facebook customers to search for a friend’s name and then start viewing the video from that point.

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