360-degree video can have the effect of making you feel like you're standing in a different place. It's not unlike a previous technological innovation that sought to do the same thing—live video. Watching a live event on TV remains the most common alternative to getting tickets and attending in person.

Today Google has announced a marriage of the two. YouTube now supports live 360-degree video.

To demo the technology, Google will live stream some of the performances at Coachella next weekend in 360 degrees. This follows the standard live streaming YouTube offered this past weekend.

But there's more to the experience than video. To fully feel immersed, sound also plays a role. So Google is also launching spatial audio. While this feature is for on-demand 360-degree YouTube videos, not live content, you can hear audio play at different levels depending on your virtual distance from the source.

Google is working with companies such as VideoStitch (which makes software geared toward editing 360-degree video) and Two Big Ears (the audio equivalent) to introduce compatibility with 360-degree streaming or spatial audio.

Source: Official YouTube Blog