YOUR OWN 360° PHOTO
Box inside a place
you photographed.
If you own a 360° camera, you probably have a folder of full-sphere photos from holidays, hikes and family days that rarely get looked at. BoxWherever can turn any one of them into the world around you while you box on Meta Quest. The targets arrive on the beat of your music, and the place you stood with your camera surrounds you on every side.
The file BoxWherever needs
Most 360° cameras record two fisheye images and stitch them together later in their own app. BoxWherever needs the stitched result: a single equirectangular image, the same flat 2:1 picture you would upload to Facebook or Google Maps as a 360° photo. The camera's own raw file (for example .insp or .36p) will not work until it has been exported.
- Format: JPEG is best. PNG and WebP also work.
- Shape: a full sphere at 2:1, such as 11904 × 5952 or 7680 × 3840. Cropped or "tiny planet" versions are refused.
- Size: keep the photo well under 50 MB. A full-resolution PNG usually goes over, so export JPEG.
- Resolution: anything up to your camera's full size is accepted. BoxWherever resizes photos wider than 8192 pixels to 8192 × 4096, the sharpest image a Quest can hold as a scene.
Insta360 X series
The X3, X4 and X5 take 72-megapixel 360° photos (11968 × 5984 on the X3, 11904 × 5952 on the X4 and X5). The camera normally saves a raw .insp file, which needs exporting first.
From the Insta360 app on your phone
- Open the photo in Album.
- Press and hold it, then tap Export to Phone.
- Choose 360 media, not a flat or reframed export. The saved JPEG looks like a stretched flat picture in your photo library; that is the right file.
From Insta360 Studio on a computer
- Open the photo, then right-click it and choose Start Export, or use the export icon at the top right.
- Keep it as a 360° photo and save the JPG.
Shortcut on the X4 and X5: turn on In-camera stitching in the camera's settings, and new 360° photos are saved as ready-to-use JPG files. Insta360's guides: exporting in the app, exporting in Studio and file formats on the X5.
Newer, higher-resolution models produce larger files. If an export is close to 50 MB, export it again at a lower quality or resolution.
Ricoh Theta
Theta cameras save 360° photos as equirectangular JPEGs already, so there is nothing to convert. The Theta X shoots up to 11008 × 5504, about 10 MB per photo, and the Theta Z1 shoots 6720 × 3360 JPEGs. Copy the JPEG to your phone with the Theta app, or to a computer over USB, and upload it as it is. The Z1's raw DNG files are a different format and need processing into a JPEG first. Theta X specifications.
GoPro MAX
The GoPro MAX2 saves 360° photos as .36P files by default, a format that needs GoPro's own software. It can save standard JPG files instead: on the camera go to Preferences → General → 360 Photo Format and choose JPG before you shoot. GoPro notes that those JPG files do not open in GoPro's apps, but they are exactly what BoxWherever needs. For .36P photos you have already taken, use GoPro's software to export a 360° photo first. GoPro MAX2 user manual (PDF).
Other cameras and apps
If your camera or its app can export a 360° photo for Facebook, Google Maps or a virtual tour, that export is almost always the right file: a single 2:1 JPEG. Panoramas stitched on a computer from ordinary photos work too, as long as they cover the full sphere.
Upload your photo to Studio
- Open Studio on a computer or phone. Create a free account and pair your Quest first if you have not already.
- Start a new map, or open one you already have and change its scene.
- Under the scene options, choose My 360° photo and select your exported JPEG.
- Save. The next time that song plays in the headset, your photo surrounds you.
A new map uploads the song and the photo together, and the two must fit within 50 MB. If your photo is large, make the map with any scene first, then switch its scene to your photo afterwards; that upload carries only the image.
Photos that work best
- Hold the camera level and at head height. The scene is placed around your eyes, so a camera on a selfie stick at arm's length above you feels like standing on a ladder.
- Open space in front helps. Most targets come from ahead of you, so a view down a beach, a trail or a street reads better than a wall a few feet away.
- Keep the stick out of sight. Many 360° cameras hide a selfie stick held directly below them. Anything left at your feet sits below where you look while boxing.
- Pick a place that means something. A summit you climbed, a garden at home, a city you loved visiting. It is your workout; the view can be personal.