360 & VR Video in Unity (with Spatial Audio)

The short version

Immersive video is one of the most common reasons teams reach for a Unity video plugin, and one of the most common places where feature tiers matter: some plugins reserve advanced immersive features such as spatial 360 audio for their highest tier.

VLC for Unity includes 360-degree video with Ambisonics spatial audio out of the box, on desktop, mobile, and standalone XR headsets, with no add-on to buy.

Why 360 video needs more than a flat player

A 360 video is an equirectangular (or cubemap) frame that must be projected onto a sphere or skybox the viewer sits inside. On top of that, convincing VR audio is Ambisonic: the soundfield has to rotate with the viewer’s head so sources stay anchored in the scene. A plain video player gives you neither.

You need a player that decodes high-resolution video efficiently (360 content is large, often 4K to 8K per eye) and exposes the audio and projection you need for immersion.

What VLC for Unity gives you

• 360-degree playback rendered to a skybox or inward-facing sphere.
• Ambisonics spatial audio so the soundfield tracks head orientation.
• Hardware-accelerated decoding up to 8K where the device supports it, important because immersive content is high resolution.
• Every format and source: local files, HTTP, or live RTSP streams, in any of 200+ codecs.
• Included, not a tier. Comparable plugins reserve some immersive features for higher tiers (AVPro lists spatial 360 audio under Ultra); with VLC for Unity, 360 video and Ambisonics are part of the $700/year license.

Playing a 360 video

Decode the video as usual, then map its output texture onto a 360 skybox material or a large inward-facing sphere around the camera rig.

using LibVLCSharp;
using UnityEngine;

public class Video360Player : MonoBehaviour
{
    LibVLC _libVLC;
    MediaPlayer _mediaPlayer;

    void Start()
    {
        Core.Initialize(Application.dataPath);
        _libVLC = new LibVLC();
        _mediaPlayer = new MediaPlayer(_libVLC);

        var media = new Media(_libVLC, "video360.mp4", FromType.FromPath);
        _mediaPlayer.Play(media);
        media.Dispose();

        // assign _mediaPlayer's output texture to a 360 skybox material
        // or an inward-facing sphere surrounding the XR camera
    }

    void OnDestroy()
    {
        _mediaPlayer?.Dispose();
        _libVLC?.Dispose();
    }
}

The package includes a 360 sample scene with keyboard/headset navigation to start from.

XR platforms

• Meta Quest and Android XR: runs on the Android platform with hardware decoding for standalone headset builds.
• Desktop VR (PCVR): Windows with Direct3D 11/12.
• Mobile: Android and iOS for phone/tablet immersive viewers.

This maps directly to how immersive teams actually ship, from standalone headsets to location-based installations.

Common use cases

• VR experiences and training: immersive 360 footage with anchored spatial audio.
• AR/XR hardware products: video surfaces inside custom headset and display apps.
• Virtual tours, events, and venues: high-resolution 360 playback on headset or mobile.

Try it in your headset

Load a 360 clip into the trial and view it on your target device. The same code runs in production across every supported platform.