As 360 videos are growing in popularity, content creators are increasingly wondering if audiences actually utilize all 360°. Here at Vrtigo, we analyzed nearly 10 million video views to quantify where viewers are looking.

Coordinate System

Illustration of 3D coordinate system

In 3D space, yaw, pitch, and roll are used to indicate where a viewer is looking. The most important angles are yaw (y-axis) and pitch (x-axis) because they indicate how much viewers are looking left/right and up/down respectively.

Equirectangular coordinate system

X and Y Coverage

We measured what direction viewers look to determine if they are taking advantage of all the viewing angles available to them. Remember from the equirectangular diagram above, the x-axis has a coverage of 180° and the y-axis has a coverage of 360°.

X and Y angles where viewers spend their time looking in 360 videos

Unsurprisingly, most viewers don’t deviate away from center along the x-axis. This is because VR headsets offer a large field of view and most videos do not take advantage of up/down movement.

We were surprised by the distribution of coverage along the y-axis. Very few viewers spend time looking behind them (180°). In fact, 50% of audiences don’t look beyond 165° and it’s only the 96th percentile of viewers who experience full 360°.

We believe the reason why so few people turn around and stay long enough to look behind them is due to stylistic choices made by filmmakers. Most videos orient users at 0° along the y-axis and keep the action focused there throughout the video. As interactive 360 videos gain popularity and content creators continue to use (and measure!) audio/visual cues to encourage exploration, we expect audiences to reach closer to 360° coverage.

Breakdown By Genre

If we look at which categories of videos have the most x and y coverage, we start noticing that some genres are more effective at encouraging users to explore videos than others.

X (up/down) coverage by genre

Science & Technology and Travel videos tend to be more immersive. They typically only have 1–2 scenes and therefore users have more freedom and time to explore along the x-axis.

Y (left/right) coverage by genre

Similarly, videos with a lot of action, such as Animation, Music, and Movie Trailer videos, keep attention focused on the center of the screen. Audiences are naturally drawn to the action and don’t look around much.

Conclusion

The majority of 360 video viewers do not spend time viewing videos in all 360°. However, the field of view that VR as a medium offers allows for rich experiences where viewers are able to see 165+ degrees — something that traditional video simply cannot provide.

We believe the current x and y coverage is a product of artistic design. Navigating users through 360° while telling a story is no easy feat. As the 360 video medium matures and content creators are equipped with analytics to track and measure audience behavior, immersive experiences will emerge that maximize the potential of the medium.