GoPro Releases $5000 Virtual Reality Camera Kit, Launches VR Apps And Website
GoPro is doubling down on virtual reality: A year after announcing a camera partnership with Google, GoPro announced its own virtual reality (VR) camera kit Monday. The company also released GoPro VR apps for Android and iOS as well as a dedicated web presence for 360-degree video content.
GoPro’s new Omni camera kit is based on six GoPro Hero4 cameras, and comes with a dedicated rig as well as a smart remote to control all six cameras at the same time. Omni also makes use of Kolor, a 360-degree video editing software that helps to stitch all those separate video recordings together to one spherical video. Omni is available for preorder now, but there’s no word on a shipping date yet.
GoPro got its hands on Kolor when it acquired the startup by the same name a year ago. The startup’s work is also key to another announcement GoPro made Monday: The company is launching a dedicated website for 360-degree video content as well as viewing apps for Android and iOS. GoPro’s new VR apps allow users to watch 360-degree videos on their phones or any Google Cardboard-compatible headset.
SEE MORE: GoPro Cameras Now Work With Third-Party Apps, Accessories
Speaking of Google: GoPro was one the launch partners when Google announced its Jump VR initiative a year ago. A year in, we haven’t heard whole lot about Jump, but the two companies are apparently still working together. GoPro will showcase the 16-camera VR rig dubbed Odyssey it co-developed with Google at NAB alongside its own Omni camera this week, and both companies are still making it available to select partners.
But with a price of $15,000, it was always clear that Odyssey wasn’t really for everyone — and GoPro seems to believe that its new Omni camera kit may be able to fill the gap and attract customers with a slightly smaller budget.
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