360 video has exploded in recent years. More and more interactive videos have appeared on Social media and even Adobe products have now added support for editing this kind of footage, but what is it?

360 is the process of using either photo or video to capture an entire 360 degree view of your surroundings. A standard camera has a single lens and is only capable of pointing in a single direction whereas a 360 camera has 2 or more lenses, so can capture everything around it, including above and below.

It is possible to view these 360 captures in a variety of ways. You can use them on your smartphone or tablet, moving your camera around to look behind as if to use it as a porthole to another world. You can view it in a web browser, using your mouse to click and drag the image around. Or you can go full virtual and view it through a VR headset such as the Samsung Gear VR.

Here are some examples of 360 images and videos.

Aerial view from Vertigo Slide – Aqualandia Water Park in Benidorm