GoPro Working On A VR Camera Array And Quadcopter Drone
Today, GoPro announced that it was working on an array that combines six GoPro Hero cameras for spherical shots all at once. CEO Nick Woodman says that when Facebook bought Oculus, the ‘gauntlet was dropped’ and GoPro started work on a spherical setup that could generate content for virtual reality and augmented reality systems.
Woodman also said that the company has software in ‘alpha’ right now inside the company that allows users to auto-sync their GoPro cameras to the cloud so they can access their footage. This is still in the ‘early stages,’ Woodman said, but this would theoretically allow people to view and edit without ever “having to touch an SD card or touch a USB cord.
The company is also working on a quadcopter drone for aerial photography using GoPro cameras.
The array will be available in the second half of 2015. “This is really going to be most appealing for production companies and prosumers,” said Woodman. He added that ‘normal’ people would definitely end up buying it but the first version would be for pros. GoPro envisions this mount capturing video for VR and AR systems such as Oculus, HoloLens, Cardboard and YouTube 360 videos.