Virtual diving' becomes a reality as 360-degree panoramas

Armchair scuba divers across the world and marine conservationists will soon be able to immerse themselves in the most spectacular survey of the Great Barrier Reef ever undertaken, thanks to a new research project unveiled by conservationists and backed by Google on Thursday.

Tens of thousands of 360-degree, high-definition panoramas of underwater forests, grasslands and crags will be taken by robot cameras, mapped and made available on the internet as a result of the collaboration, which will seek help from a global audience to assess the health and composition of the 2,300km-long reef.

Underworld 360 project

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Introducing Mobile Solutions and Social Media

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Users of social networks are getting tired of sharing — but that doesn’t mean sharing is on the decline. A new study analyzes sharing behaviors on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and makes predictions for the future of sharing.

Digital agency Beyond released the study for Social Media Week, along with the below infographic. Beyond makes six predictions about where sharing is headed based on the responses of 2,000 social media users in the U.S. and UK, between ages 16 and 40, who are active on either Twitter, Facebook or Google+. Among those users, 98% were active on Facebook, 60% of whom log in several times daily.