Facebook is helping bring virtual reality into reality with the Oculus Rift and Gear VR. But what happens when they bring reality into the virtual realm? I found out first hand at this week’s F8, Facebook’s developer event.

One of the company’s forays into the virtual reality field is in Facebook 360, which combines the Gear VR with 360-degree, 3D cameras to create a virtual tourism experience. Put on the headset and you’re a fly on the wall in whatever location they filmed.

When I tried on the Gear VR with Facebook 360, I found myself in the middle of Grand Central Station. Everywhere I turned my head, there were people walking by, going about their lives; I was completely in the scene, from every angle of view. Some stopped near me to talk to each other, and the audio focused on what they were saying, although it was just as loud no matter which way I looked, at the expense of anything else I may have wanted to focus on.

At one point, an arguing couple made their way right by me, and I began to see a spot where the cameras’ fields of vision overlapped, as it made their feet transparent, as though they were ghosts still haunting the station until they could settle their differences and move on. The area near them I found to be something of a “ghost zone,” where those passing through it vanished momentarily, presumably due to the camera setup.

As the video ended, I began to lift into the air, giving me a full view of Grand Central Station. From there, I could admire the full scope of the virtual world I had entered. It was not quite virtual reality so much as it was a fully immersive video, where I was an observer to a real scene. Think of it as watching a movie, but instead of a screen, the movie plays all around you.

The camera itself was an impressive beast of a video tool, with an array of lenses around it designed to provide a full 360-degree field of view. The most remarkable thing is that, while the camera itself is not yet available, the specs and instructions for creating one will be offered for free, so anyone can create their own 3D, 360-degree camera.

While this is a different use of virtual reality, it’s a unique tool nonetheless. In time, it has the potential to place viewers in the middle of blockbuster movies, or bring them along on vacations from the comfort of their homes. For now, it’s an interesting work in progress, and one I look forward to seeing develop.

Photos by Robert Pleasant