Google’s Spotlight, a light-hearted entertainment cum storytelling app which use 360 degree 2D/3D animated videos for the purpose, has now hit iOS devices, almost 2 years after it was available for Android. The videos were originally developed by Motorola before its 2011 acquisition by the search giant.
Videos in Spotlight app are meant for light-hearted entertainment, and stories built using 3D and 2D animations, 360-degree spherical “cinema-quality” video, sound sphere audio, and “sensor fusion techniques,” says Google. All in all, you can look around in the video, similar to how you usually view on 360 degree ones.
These video, like your usual 360 degree ones, take advantage of multiple sensors working in tandem within your smartphone, like accelerometer and gyroscope for providing an all-round 360 view within the video. Unlike usual 2D videos where just the content within the current frame is visible, 360 degree videos provide a more immersive experience by letting you view everything around the current frame as well.
The Spotlight android app, developed by Motorola Mobility’s Advanced Technology And Products (ATAP) moonshot division, were originally meant just for Moto devices like the Moto X and others. However, Google continued to put in resources to develop this technology, and hence released an android app, which could run across a larger scope of Android devices. It still however, does not support all droids out there.
The iOS app can run on any device running on iOS version 8 or higher, says Google.
