Recently, I saw on YouTube that you can play videos with 360 degree panoramic views. It's on the #360Video channel (sample videos). What type of video files are these?
Also, you don't need anything like the Oculus Rift to watch these sorts of videos, you can just click and move the camera.
Best Answer
A 360-degree video file seems to be a special type of MP4 file.
I used a browser extension to download the YouTube video you mentioned.
When viewed in "VLC media player" the entire 360-degree panorama is shown, rather than a specific view.
(EDIT: As of November 30, 2016, VLC Player now plays 360ยบ videos. )
The "Upload 360 degree videos - YouTube Help" article (link) describes how to upload 360 videos and lists some software references, including Kolor. The Kolor Eyes Free Video Player for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS will play spherical videos both online and offline.
The Linux utility
file
lists the video as:ISO Media, MP4 v2 [ISO 14496-14]
The Linux utility mediainfo lists the following information:
Finally, the Spherical Video RFC (draft) describes the spherical video format metadata needed for 360 degree videos.