Feb 21, 2018 | By Benedict
Facebook has introduced 3D posts, letting augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) developers (and even 3D printer users) share their 3D models with friends or fans. The 3D models can be viewed from all angles in the Facebook News Feed.
Facebook is changing. Once a place where you posted hundreds of photos in one go and shared your thoughts freely, the last decade saw Facebook gradually turn into a kind of giant billboard, full of ads and links to third-party sites, with very little of the “friend” factor that brought everyone there in the first place.
It looks like Mark Zuckerberg and co. have finally realized that people, generally, aren’t enjoying this model so much, and last year announced big changes to its News Feed algorithm in order to prioritize personal posts over business ones. Time will tell whether that strategy can save the company’s image.
One thing we can all agree on, however, is the awesomeness of 3D models popping up on Facebook.
The social media giant recently introduced 3D posts to its News Feed, letting users post 3D models that can be rotated and viewed from all angles in the news feed. And in order to make that experience smoother, the company has now introduced support for the industry-standard glTF 2.0 file format, providing richer and higher-quality 3D content for augmented and virtual reality users.
“With glTF 2.0 compliance comes support for textures, lighting, and realistic rendering techniques,” explains Facebook product manager Aykud Gönen. “So from rough to shiny, metallic to soft, beautifully detailed 3D art can now come alive on Facebook. 3D posts also support unlit workflows for photogrammetry and stylized art.”
The introduction of glTF 2.0 also changes the way users can post their 3D content. New Graph API endpoints with 3D Post support mean that developers can now build 3D sharing into any app, letting users quickly post a 3D models to Facebook from the software in which they are designing it.
Companies to have added Facebook sharing features to their software include Sony (for its Xperia smartphone) and Oculus, while Google will soon add instant Facebook sharing to Google Poly, its VR 3D model library.
“We hope these new tools will help more artists, developers, and businesses to share their creations, so people can discover and explore rich 3D content right from their News Feed,” Gönen says. “We've already seen some incredible interactive objects uploaded to Facebook today, including a LEGO parrot, a Jurassic World dinosaur, a virtual living room from Wayfair, a handbag scanned with a Sony phone, and the new Magic Archer character in Clash Royale by Supercell.”
Facebook says it looks forward to seeing the ecosystem of 3D content grow on Facebook as users start to contribute more 3D models.
Posted in 3D Design
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