In this release, you can now create SOPs from 360° camera videos and photos that let viewers look around (Pro and Enterprise plans). This responds to requests from customers, mainly in manufacturing, who want to put the 360° videos they have been recording over time to use as SOPs for preserving and passing on skills. You can also view 360° SOPs in VR in the Meta Quest browser. We have also revised the "Forgot your password?" flow on the Log in screen, and made improvements to D-pad controls on smart glasses, read-aloud audio creation, file display, and more.

①You can now turn your 360° camera videos and photos into SOPs you can look around

Many customers, mainly in manufacturing, have been recording their sites with 360° cameras to preserve the work of experienced workers and pass on their skills. However, we have heard that these videos often just pile up and are not fully used for new-hire training or checking work.

In this release, you can create SOPs directly from the 360° videos and photos you have been recording. AI analysis splits a video into steps and sets the initial view of each step to the spot where the work is being done. Viewers can look around the step videos and photos by dragging, swiping, or tilting their smartphone, and can check the equipment around the worker as well as what is happening away from their hands. 360° cameras such as RICOH THETA, Insta360, and GoPro MAX are supported.

Until now, 360° camera videos and photos were displayed as a wide, flattened image of the entire surroundings (an unwrapped view), which made it hard to find the spot you wanted to see. With this release, 360° videos and photos can be viewed by looking around. For each step, you can set the initial view that appears first, or fix shapes and mosaics in the direction they were placed. Step splits, subtitles, body text, questions, and read-aloud audio work the same way as in regular video and photo SOPs.

●What viewers can do

• Drag (on a PC) or swipe (on a smartphone or tablet) on the video or photo to look around. You can zoom in and out with the mouse wheel or a two-finger pinch, and on smartphones and tablets you can also look around by tilting the device.
• When the step changes, the view automatically turns to that step's initial view. Double-click or double-tap at any time to return to the initial view.
• Shapes and mosaics stay fixed in the direction they were placed and move along with the surrounding scene. Shapes that are off-screen are indicated by an orange triangle at the edge of the screen that shows their direction.
• The same features work in the browsers on PCs, smartphones, and tablets, in the Dive smartphone app, and in SOPs opened through an External Sharing URL.

●How to create

• Upload 360° videos and photos from "Materials" in the same way as usual. Materials recognized as 360° show a "360°" label at the bottom left of the thumbnail.
• If you create an SOP from a material with the "360°" label, it becomes a 360° SOP. Whether you use AI analysis or insert the material in the SOP editor, the procedure is the same as for regular videos and photos.
• AI analysis takes into account that the material is 360° when creating steps, and sets the initial view of each step to the spot where the work is being done. The 360° camera or tripod that appears in the footage, and the actions to start or stop recording, are not treated as work.
• For videos, use the video editor. For photos, use "Edit" on the step image. In both cases, you can look around while deciding the initial view of each step and placing shapes or mosaics.

●Using videos you have already recorded

• Files exported as 360° videos (MP4) from the camera's dedicated app can be uploaded as they are. Proprietary formats saved on the camera itself (such as .insv files from Insta360 or .360 files from GoPro MAX) must be exported to MP4 with the camera's dedicated app before uploading.
• Videos that do not contain 360° information, such as 360° videos previously uploaded to Dive or videos exported as regular videos from video editing software, can be used for 360° SOPs. Turn on "Treat as 360° video" in the material details, then click "Rebuild for 360°". Only videos with a width-to-height ratio of 2:1 are eligible.

●Exports and how it looks on smart glasses

• MP4 export uses each step's initial view. PDF, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel exports include an image of each step's initial view.
• On smart glasses and on devices that cannot display 360°, the SOP is shown as an image of each step's initial view.

●Requirements

• Uploading 360° videos and photos and creating or editing 360° SOPs are available on the Pro and Enterprise plans. Video editing is done from a browser on a PC.
• Completed 360° SOPs can be viewed on any plan.
• 360° videos cannot be used for Work Analysis (Time Analysis, comparison with SOPs, and Quick Analysis).

For details, see Creating SOPs from 360° camera videos and photos (look around and View in VR).

②You can now view 360° SOPs in VR in the Meta Quest browser

When you open a 360° SOP in the Meta Quest (formerly Oculus Quest) browser, a "VR" button now appears at the top left of the video or photo. Press it to switch to VR, then turn your head to look around inside the video or photo. No app installation is needed.

●What you can do in VR

• Pull the trigger (or pinch your thumb and index finger together when using your hands) to play or pause.
• Tilt the thumbstick left or right to move to the previous or next step.
• The step title, subtitles, and operation guidance appear in front of you. The direction of shapes outside your field of view is shown with an orange arrow, and the initial view of each step is shown with a white arrow.
• When a question, the Step list, or the completion screen appears, or when you move to a step that is not 360°, VR ends automatically and you return to the browser screen.

●Requirements

• Available for 360° SOPs. It also works for SOPs opened through an External Sharing URL.
• Operation has been confirmed in the standard Meta Quest browser.

③We revised the "Forgot your password?" flow on the Log in screen

On the Log in screen, we changed the "Reset password" button to "Forgot your password?". When you press it, the "Reset password" screen opens, where you can check the destination email address before sending a password reset email.

Until now, pressing "Reset password" sent the reset email to the address already entered in the Email address field. With this release, on the "Reset password" screen, you enter your email address and check it, then click "Send a password reset email" to send the email. After sending, the destination address stays displayed on the screen.

• If you enter a Login ID (Email-free account), no email is sent. Instead, the screen tells you to ask your administrator to reissue your password.
• We removed the "Log in with Dive account" heading from the login screen, and changed the divider above single sign-on and other buttons to "Other login methods".
• The "Forgot your password?" option is not shown on the login screen of smart glasses. To reset your password, use the login screen on a PC or smartphone.

For details, see Changing or resetting your password.

④Other improvements and bug fixes

●Smart glasses

• On smart glasses operated with a D-pad, while a small screen (such as single sign-on or two-step verification) is open over the login screen or another screen, only the buttons on that small screen are now selected in turn. Previously, selection could also move to buttons on the screen behind it, and pressing the confirm button could operate the screen behind.

●Read-aloud

• Fixed an issue where creating read-aloud audio for subtitles and text would occasionally fail. The more subtitles or text a step had, the more likely this was to happen.
• Fixed an issue where, in a combined step, subtitles placed on a part almost completely hidden by a cut could not be turned into read-aloud audio.

●File display

• Fixed an issue where, when opening image or text files in File-based SOPs and similar places, the contents were not displayed and only an "Open" button appeared.

●SOP player screen

• Fixed an issue where, when searching within an SOP, the cover image sometimes did not appear in results that matched "Entire procedure".

Impact on existing customers

There are no changes to SOP content or settings. SOPs created so far will continue to play as before. Please check the following points.

• On teams below the Pro plan, 360° camera videos and photos (those containing 360° information) can no longer be uploaded. If you select them, a message about plans appears. Materials uploaded so far, and the SOPs made from them, can continue to be used as they are.
• 360° videos and photos uploaded so far do not automatically become 360°. To show them in 360°, either turn on "Treat as 360° video" in the material details and recreate the video, or upload it again. For photos, please upload them again. (Both require the Pro plan or higher.)
• On a PC, the ← and → keys in the SOP player still move to the previous or next step, as before. To change the view in a 360° SOP, hold down the Shift key and use the arrow keys.
• On the login screen, "Reset password" has changed to "Forgot your password?".

We look forward to your continued support of Dive. ◎