YouTube makes it clear in which direction people look at 360-degree video

YouTube makes available an analytics tool that tells what viewers draw their attention to at any given moment of a 360-degree video. The tool should help content creators learn how to best use these types of videos.

The tool is instantly available for any 360-degree video that has been viewed more than 1000 times. An included screenshot shows that YouTube produces a heatmap, which indicates with an overlay of colors how many pairs of eyes are focused on certain points at any time. Hotter colors indicate well-viewed areas and colder areas are quieter. At the moment, only the creators of the video themselves can view the heatmaps.

YouTube also shares some information about how such videos are currently viewed. For example, 75 percent of the viewing time is simply looked ahead, in the 90 degrees in front of the viewer. However, the best 360-degree videos manage to spread the attention around the circle and 20 percent of the views even make it to the back.