THIS MONTH: 360-DEGREE IMAGING & VR

Whether it has the legs to go the distance and be seen as another creative way to get your pictures and films out there or it’s destined to be a short-lived phase in the history of photography, there’s no doubt that ‘immersive’ imaging is currently a hot topic. Everyone’s jumping on the 360-degree and virtual reality (VR) bandwagon, from Google and Facebook to Nikon and the BBC.

But you don’t need the backing of a corporation with deep pockets to give it a go. While immersive imaging might once have required expensive camera rigs and a painstaking process, it can now be realised using nothing more than a smartphone and a viewer made from cardboard

The terms ‘360’ and ‘VR’ are often used interchangeably, but there are some clear distinctions. For a start, ‘true’ VR has nothing to do with photography at all: rather, it involves a computer-generated virtual environment that you can traipse around and interact with while wearing a VR headset. It’s all about the end-user experience