It?s all video, all the time at Facebook, as the social network Wednesday introduced two tools for publishing 360-degree videos, Guide and Heatmap, along with new video metrics in Page Insights.
The social network described Guide as a way for publishers to provide viewers with a guided tour of their 360 videos, ensuring that those viewers see key moments.
Heatmap is a visual insights tool that displays the portions of the field of view for 360-degree videos that viewers are spending the most time watching.
Facebook 360 partnerships lead Paul Beddoe-Stephens provided more details on Guide and Heatmap in a Facebook Media blog post:
Guide lets you set the narrative for your 360 video by highlighting specific points of interest in the field of view over the course of your video. If you decide to use Guide, once you select these points, people who view your video will automatically be directed around the video as it plays, ensuring that they don?t miss the action?whether that?s a diver plunging into the water or a shark swimming up behind them. When people watch your video, Guide will be turned on by default?your video will automatically pan around to your points of interest as it plays. Viewers who prefer to not watch via Guide can simply pan or swipe out of the scene to explore the full 360-degree view on their own. If they?d like to return to the guided experience, tapping the heading indicator on the right side of the video (which will say ?Auto? whenever Guide is turned on...