Mapping the landscape of research on 360-degree videos and images: a network and cluster analysis

The recent emergence of low-cost virtual reality technologies, like 360° videos and images is attracting the attention of researchers suggesting it could be the next significant step in technological innovation. The birth of 360° videos and images is quite young, it goes back to the middle of the nineteenth century and then spread more and more in many areas. In recent years, 360° videos and images have grown in popularity because they provide a great number of advantages compared to traditional virtual reality computer-generated technology. The aim of this research is to map scientific works in the area of 360° technology using advanced scientometric techniques. We collected all the existent articles about 360° contents in the Scopus database, and the resultant dataset contained 3319 records. The bibliographic record encompassed all categories of scientific articles retrieved from Scopus, considering parameters such as countries, institutions, journals, authors, citation counts, and publication years. The network and cluster analysis of the literature showed a composite panorama characterized by changes and evolutions over time of the use of 360° contents. We discuss these aspects in the main areas of application with an emphasis on the future expected 360° capacities, increases, and challenges. As already happened with the advent of virtual reality, the future of 360° technology will be an increasing shift from engineering to clinical use, by improving the use and the development of scientific applications in clinical areas and by modifying social communication and interaction among people.