Facebook Spaces adds live video, letting users without Oculus Rift peek into VR in real time

After months of letting Oculus Rift users connect with friends and family in virtual reality, Facebook is opening up the party to the rest of your social network by introducing Live video. The feature will let all Facebook users see what others are seeing in virtual reality, even without a headset.

When Facebook Spaces debuted earlier this year, the only way to let someone without a Rift headset could view your VR avatar was through a one-to-one Messenger video call.

But the new Live component of Spaces will function just like regular Facebook Live video, giving Rift users the ability to broadcast from virtual reality straight to their regular Facebook page.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

In the company's demonstration video (below) showing off the new feature, two Rift users, one a teacher and the other a student, are both represented by Spaces avatars. Both Rift users stand in front of a digital white board as another non-Rift user looks on from their smartphone and web browser.

Aside from education, the feature also offers the possibility of regular TV-style VR shows and virtual tours of international locales, all hosted by human-controlled avatars viewable by billions of people who have never ever touched a VR headset.

This latest update may be Spaces' best chance at collecting more non-VR user interest. Despite being available for several months, there's been little sign of the app gaining traction among Rift users, and Facebook hasn't released user data for the app. So unless you own a Rift, or have a friend with one, there's a good chance you may have never even heard of Spaces. That could change in a big way after the update.

The Facebook Spaces update is available immediately, so we should know soon, based on how many VR broadcasts we see on Facebook, just how popular Spaces is or isn't with users.