Tag Archives: 360-degree

NASA Curiosity 360º Video Wants to Take you to Mars

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The Curiosity Rover is still up there right now cruising around the surface of Mars doing its sciency stuff. It’s picking up dirt, checking it for microbes or water, and taking some really cool selfies. The latest video that NASA has offered up from the Red Planet is one that Curiosity shot.

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It’s not actually a video because the Mastcam video camera can do 720p at only 10 fps and that sucks. Instead, this is a stitched together 360-degree image made from individual still images taken by the second camera in the Mastcam.

Since it’s a surround video, you can explore it on your PC in all directions. The best way to enjoy is by using your phone in a Google Cardboard viewer and spinning in circles checking out the Red Planet.

[via Extremetech]

Nikon’s Tiny KeyMission360 Action Camera Shoots 360º Video: Annuit Surf Vids

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Nikon’s New Year’s surprise is the KeyMission 360, a hybrid device that combines the ability to take 360º videos and still photos with the size and durability of an action camera.

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As of this writing, Nikon hasn’t revealed a lot of specifics regarding the device. But we do know that it has a pair of image sensors and lenses on opposite faces, it’s dustproof, shockproof and waterproof, it can shoot 4K videos and it can mitigate vibration to keep videos as smooth and stable as possible.

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Here are a few sample videos taken with the KeyMission 360. I imagine more will be uploaded to its official YouTube channel.

Is the KeyMission 360 too late? Too niche? Too gimmicky? Too dependent on VR headsets? I guess we’ll find out after it becomes available this spring. All I know is that the life I lead is not worthy of an action camera. Or any camera for that matter.

Oculus Connect 2 virtual reality event will stream live in VR

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Tomorrow when the folks at Oculus show off the latest developments in their plan for VR world domination at the Oculus Connect 2 event, a select few will be able to experience remotely just as if they were there. If you have a Samsung Gear VR you c...

Explorer 360º Tactical Camera: Ball of the Beholder

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Back in 2012, we featured Bounce Imaging’s concept for a throwable camera that could stream a 360º image to a mobile device. The device is now on sale, and while many of its proposed features didn’t make the cut its basic functions are intact.

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The Explorer is equipped with six 800×480 black and white cameras. Each camera shoots one photo per second. The photos are then wirelessly sent to and stitched into a 360º image on a mobile device up to 60ft away.

The vanilla Explorer uses LEDs as its light source, while the Explorer Tactical Edition uses stealthier near-infrared lights. The Explorer lasts up to 30min. per charge; no word on the Tactical Edition’s battery life.

Back when they were still developing the Explorer, Bounce Imaging originally wanted the cameras to take two shots per second, and hoped that it would have sensors to gather additional data such as temperature or radiation. The Explorer didn’t meet any of those lofty goals, but at least its core functionality is there.

Another feature that got cut? The $500 (USD) price. Bounce Imaging is selling the Explorer for $1495, while the Explorer Tactical Edition costs $2495. Retrieval accessories in the form of a pole and a tether are sold separately. I’ll have to be content with attaching cameras to our cat.

[via Laughing Squid]

Vcemo Wants to Be the YouTube of 360º Videos

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Virtual reality headsets are not just great for games. They’re also great for viewing 360º videos, which are the video equivalent of Google Street View. In fact, there’s already a 360º documentary about virtual reality. It remains to be seen whether the technology will be a hit with consumers, but vcemo is betting that it will. The company is setting up a streaming website dedicated to 360º videos.

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There is already software for headsets like the Oculus Rift that allow for viewing Side-by-Side videos uploaded on 2D video sites like YouTube. But vcemo wants to make simple and standardized processes for both creators and viewers.

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The goal is for vcemo to support 360º video taken with a variety of hardware, whether a dedicated 360º camera or a custom made setup, in the same way that YouTube and other streaming sites accept videos taken with a variety of devices.

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Viewers can then watch 360º videos on vcemo via either virtual reailty headsets or through their mobile devices with the help of VR accessories like the Samsung Gear VR or Google’s Cardboard VR kit. As with 2D video streaming sites – it’s amazing that we have to make that distinction now – vcemo will host and stream 360º videos for free, but it will allow content creators to sell their videos on the site too.

Pledge at least $25 (USD) on Kickstarter to be a vcemo beta tester. I get what vcemo is trying to do, but if 360º videos do take off I don’t see why Google won’t support those on YouTube. Then again, Twitch beat Google to the livestreaming game, so who knows.

[via The Gadget Flow]

Panono Panoramic Ball Camera: Spherefies

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A couple of years ago we saw an unusual camera. It looked like a ball and took 360° panoramic photos, like the ones on Google Street View but completely spherical. Jonas Pfeil and his co-inventors are now gearing up to mass produce the camera, which they’re now calling the Panono.

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Panono works much like the prototype we saw back then. It has 36 cameras that together can make a 72mp 360° image.  Panono can be used in three ways. The fun way is to throw the ball up in the air. The camera will sense when it reaches its highest point, and will automatically activate all of its cameras. You can also prop it up on a stick and trigger it using the Panono mobile app or just hold it in your hand and press its button to shoot.

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Whichever method you choose, you’ll need a mobile device and an Internet connection in order to get the final panoramic image. That’s because the camera will wirelessly send the images it took to your mobile device. From there you need to upload the images to a free cloud service that will stitch your images together. If you don’t have an Internet connection, you’ll be able to view the images you took via the app, but they’ll be separated. The camera itself can store up to 400 panoramas (that’s 14,400 “normal” images) so you can still use it without a mobile device.

Pledge at least $500 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a Panono as a reward. You can check out the shots taken with the latest prototype on Panono’s website. Now someone needs to come up with a spherical picture frame.