The introduction of inexpensive cameras, that have ability to make spherical images are introducing new era in the photography and making exciting new ways in which people can share the stories.
There is a great increase in the technology breakthrough by offering “Consumer cameras” that produces 360 degree images, provides the realistic sense of events or places.
Photos and videos with the 360 degree perspective could in near future become the new standard for everything from news coverage to the vacation and not forgetting the events like weddings, birthday parties and other social gatherings.
The key players in this new breakthrough camera technology are:-
- Ricoh
- Samsung
- 360fly
- JK Imaging,Kodak pixpro digital camera
- IC Real , Allie Camera maker
- Human eye technologies
We experience the world in 360 degrees, surrounded by beautiful sights and sounds.If we see in near past, the options for capturing the photos and videos that captures such contexts are mainly narrowed down to 02 options. one is to use rig to position multiple cameras at different angles with overlapping fields of view , and the second option is to pay highly up to $10,000 or more for the specialized camera.
ALLIE Camera (It uses the technology originally developed for surveillance industry and can capture images in low light)
The production process involve in such context is a cumbersome and require multiple days to complete. After you have completed shooting your footage , you have to transfer the images to computer and then use the pricey software to fuse them into seamless picture and then convert the file into a people desirable format, so that it can be further reused and distributed easily.
Samsung Gear 360 (Samsung has given these cameras to the New York Times and Reuters journalists , who are producing 360 news coverage)
News and Entertainment
Now due to breakthrough advancement in 360 degree camera technology. Today anyone can buy, a decent 360 degree enabled camera for less than $600 and in no time can upload the recorded video to Facebook or you tube. The 360 degree footage of news feed has a potential to become new standard for news events. such an example can be seen as Twitter is encouraging that by enabling live spherical videos in periscope app.
Ricoh Theta S (The thin slim shape of Ricoh is possible because of the placement of image sensors on the camera’s sides instead of behind its lens)
Medical Applications
Have you seen one of the spherical videos of medical procedures that are used to teach students about surgery. The Giblib of Los Angeles, a startup company, films the operations by attaching the base ball sized camera , 360fly 4K, to the surgery lights positioned just above the patient. The 360 degree view enables students to see not just the surgeon and surgical site but also the way the operation room was organized and how operating staff work coherently as a team.
Sports
While talking about the sport, the inexpensive 360 degree cameras such as Kodak’s $450 Pixpro SP360 4K are used in basketball backboards ,hockey nets and football fields for professional teams. It helps players visualize the action and prepare for the games in a ways that the conventional videos like sideline and end-zone cannot provide.