user11873: Is there a difference between Virtual reality and a 360°video? 
For me, you cannot have a VR without a 360video (and 360 camera). And these 360 panoramas, are they considered VR? 
A little broad question but hope I can get it straight. 

user6226: There is a difference between "Virtual Reality" and 360* Video because they have completely different uses. 
360 video is created from multiple streams of video being stitched together, or one very wide camera lens. It will either be viewed as one greatly distorted video stream or in a special viewer that only "shows" a window into the plate and lets you "look around" -with a corresponding drop in resolution. 
Virtual Reality usually refers to a synthetic world created in a program of some kind like Unity: Unity Game Development Engine or Unreal Engine
Here some starter information on VR Development
It is possible to merge video and "VR" in the context of movie. What you are really creating is a composite (Visual Effects) shot. Simply put, it involves creating a LIDAR scan of a location. Putting that information into a 3D program such as MAYA and then projecting the combination of elements onto the 3D models created from the scan. At which point you may have a 360 virtual set that you could render shots from. 
Industries like firefighters and the military are starting to use realistic VR for training. And I think that's probably the closest to what you're talking about. It's going to be a limited "game" universe where the models are possibly scanned from real-world locations. However there's no reason to use 360 video for these applications, it would introduce more issues than it solved over just getting real textures and images.  
I suppose it makes sense to mention what 2nd Life and some games have done with VR and realism.
And what Google is doing with 360 video/images

11873: <p>Is there a difference between Virtual reality and a 360°video? </p>

<p>For me, you cannot have a VR without a 360video (and 360 camera). And these 360 panoramas, are they considered VR? </p>

<p>A little broad question but hope I can get it straight. </p>
 6226: <p>There is a difference between "Virtual Reality" and 360* Video because they have completely different uses. </p>

<p>360 video is created from multiple streams of video being stitched together, or one very wide camera lens. It will either be viewed as one greatly distorted video stream or in a special viewer that only "shows" a window into the plate and lets you "look around" -with a corresponding drop in resolution. </p>

<p>Virtual Reality usually refers to a synthetic world created in a program of some kind like <a href="https://unity3d.com/" rel="nofollow">Unity</a>: Unity Game Development Engine or <a href="https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Platforms/VR/" rel="nofollow">Unreal Engine</a>
<a href="https://www.quora.com/I-want-to-be-a-virtual-reality-developer-From-where-can-I-start-What-are-the-best-learning-materials" rel="nofollow">Here some starter information on VR Development</a></p>

<p>It is possible to merge video and "VR" in the context of movie. What you are really creating is a composite (Visual Effects) shot. Simply put, it involves creating a <a href="http://www.tested.com/art/538855-how-lidar-used-visual-effects/" rel="nofollow">LIDAR</a> scan of a location. Putting that information into a 3D program such as <a href="http://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview" rel="nofollow">MAYA</a> and then projecting the combination of elements onto the 3D models created from the scan. At which point you may have a 360 virtual set that you could render shots from. </p>

<p>Industries like firefighters and the military are starting to use realistic VR for training. And I think that's probably the closest to what you're talking about. It's going to be a limited "game" universe where the models are possibly scanned from real-world locations. However there's no reason to use 360 video for these applications, it would introduce more issues than it solved over just getting real textures and images.  </p>

<p>I suppose it makes sense to mention what <a href="http://secondlife.com/" rel="nofollow">2nd Life</a> and <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/24/entertainment/la-ca-noir-city-20110424" rel="nofollow">some games have done</a> with VR and realism.</p>

<p>And what Google is doing with <a href="https://vr.google.com/jump/" rel="nofollow">360 video</a>/images</p>
