Facebook has announced that it will now allow users to post 3D photos to their timeline from the Facebook app even if they have a phone with a single camera. In theory, this should make it possible for a lot more phones to take 3D photos — and Facebook says it also means you can use your front-facing camera to take 3D selfies.
The feature, which was first made available in October 2018, was previously exclusive to phones that had two or more cameras that could take portrait mode shots. Previously, 3D photos relied on using each camera to take an image that Facebook could then use to create the illusion of ‘depth’ in a 3D picture.
According to Facebook, the new single-camera technique uses machine learning to infer the three-dimensional structure of an image to create the 3D effect.
Facebook says anyone with an iPhone 7 or higher, or “a recent midrange or better Android device,” should be able to use the 3D photo tool in the main Facebook app. However, it does not appear to have rolled out to all phones yet. Nevertheless, it is achievable with images taken in portrait mode on top-end phones such as iPhone 11 Pro.