Overview
StreamShark.io has a flexible web based 360 live and on-demand video player that enables a “Responsive VR” experience no matter what device you are watching - a VR Head-mounted display (HMD) is optional! We support a number of different 360 video formats including:
- 360 (monoscopic)
- 360_LR (stereoscopic/3D Side By Side)
- 360_TB (stereoscopic/3D Top Bottom)
We support live and on-demand 360 streams in a variety of formats (HLS, MPEG-DASH) and codecs (h.264, VP9).
There are various ways (or modes) right now to play back live and on demand 360 content:
GearVR / Oculus Go / Oculus Quest - Oculus Browser (recommended)
The Oculus Browser for GearVR / Go / Quest has native WebVR support, which is enabled by default.
To watch a StreamShark hosted 360 live stream, open the URL directly in the Oculus Browser application while in VR mode - click play and click (by gazing and tapping on the touchpad or pointing and clicking with your controller) on the Cardboard/HMD icon in the top right of screen, which will put you in fullscreen VR mode. 360 Streams up to 2K are supported.
Desktop without HMD - 360 Panning with mouse movement - Chrome or Firefox (recommended)
The most straight forward way to play back live 360 content is via a standard browser on a Desktop. StreamShark hosted 360 live streams can be played back on modern browsers such as Chrome and Firefox (PC/Mac), and Microsoft Edge (PC). Safari is not supported. Simply open a StreamShark hosted page or embedded player, and you can pan around in 360 degrees with your mouse by clicking and dragging across the player canvas. 360 Streams up to 4K are supported.
Desktop with Oculus Rift or HTC Vive HMD - Firefox (recommended)
Native WebVR support is beginning to arrive to mainstream browsers (Chrome, Firefox), enabling easy access to compelling VR experiences with seamless integration of HMD's such as the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive.
For Desktop users, Firefox has included native VR support in Firefox 55 and above (current is 69.0.1). We recommend this browser for Desktop users. 360 Streams up to 4K are supported with a modern AMD or NVIDIA GPU. We do not recommend Chrome for Desktop viewing on PC with a Rift or Vive at this time.
Once you are all set up, it's simply a matter of opening a StreamShark URL or embed in the browser. The StreamShark web player also supports VR casting mode, which can be triggered by clicking on the Cardboard/HMD icon in the top right of screen. Once clicked, put on your HMD and start enjoying the 360 video content.
Go to https://webvr.info/ for more info on downloading a compatible browser, enabling WebVR, and using your HMD with your browser. If you are using an Oculus Rift, don't forget to enable “Unknown Sources” from the Oculus Settings.
Android Device - 360 Panning with gyroscope/sensor movement - Google Cardboard
If you have a modern Android device with the latest version of Chrome, you can watch live 360 content in the browser. The view of a 360 video is changed by dragging a finger across the screen or by physically navigating (moving) with the device. The StreamShark web player also supports Google Cardboard mode, which can be triggered by clicking on the Cardboard/HMD icon in the top right of screen. 360 Streams up to 2K are supported.
When prompted you can place your device in your Google Cardboard.
The view will now be split screen inside the Google Cardboard holder.
You can also fine tune the view by selecting the model of Google Cardboard
Unfortunately iOS devices (iPad and iPhone) are not supported for live 360 playback at this time via the browser, due to limitations of Safari in iOS. We hope Apple addresses these shortcomings soon.
GearVR - Samsung Internet for Gear VR
The Samsung Internet for GearVR browser has WebVR support. To enable WebVR, install Samsung Internet for GearVR browser via Oculus Home, then:
- If 'Labs' menu in 'More' is exposed: enter Labs, toggle switch.
- If not, go to 'internet://flags', select 'Enable' for WebVR, and then relaunch Samsung Internet for Gear VR.
To watch a StreamShark hosted 360 live stream, open the StreamShark player URL in the Samsung Internet Browser, then place your compatible Samsung phone in your GearVR. The Samsung Internet for GearVR app will load - click play and click (by gazing and tapping on the touchpad) on the Cardboard/HMD icon in the top right of screen, which will put you in fullscreen VR mode. 360 Streams up to 2K are supported.
GearVR - SamsungVR (formerly MilkVR)
Direct content links to StreamShark hosted 360 content (e.g. HLS or MPEG-DASH manifests) can be sideloaded into SamsungVR from a specially crafted link. This link allows you to launch directly into 360 video content. More information can be found here:
360 Streams up to 4K are supported.