VidCon: YouTube makes virtual reality push with 360-degree 3-D

ANAHEIM, California—YouTube says it’s making a further push into virtual reality, promising to add 3-D support for videos that play back in its 360-degree format.

Thursday’s announcement comes a day after the debut of first online 360-degree ad, a commercial for Bud Light.

Right now, viewers using the mobile YouTube app or Google’s Chrome browser can pan around in any direction in the 360-degree videos. They’re shot using special cameras that look in many directions, and software stitches together all the video.

Support for 3-D means wearers of headsets like Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard can see images in three dimensions as they swivel around to change their view.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced the push during VidCon, an annual convention for fans and creators of online video.