360 Degrees Photos and Videos: We live in a world where we are completely surrounded by technology. Including Mobile phones, smart watches, increasingly connected cars, kitchen appliances with wifi and internet … In this society where everything has become intelligent, there is no reason why the way we consume content should not change. And yeah, we are no longer satisfied with flat images.
Image Credits: Backstage
There is this new trend that is and will continue to impact us even more in the coming months i.e. 360 degrees photos and videos (especially videos). Meaning, we can live the images and videos we see as if we were in the scene.
Introduction to 360 Degrees Photos and Videos
360 degrees photos and videos mean, as the name suggests, the ability to enjoy content not only in the way it reaches a conventional camera / eye (the human eye perceives almost 180 degree image, but focuses only on a part of this area), but also what goes around, over and under. That is, 360 degrees view around the viewer.
Imagine that you are in the middle of a square, admiring a monument. In doing so, your view reaches the monument and around, and we can capture the moment in a photograph using a mobile. But after taking the photo, what if we turn our eyes sideways?
The field is enlarged, but most of the beautiful content our eyes enjoy in the open are lost and can’t be captured in that photo with our mobiles.
Panoramic photos? These are so fashionable and have been a partial recreation of 180 degrees. By overlapping photos into a large horizontal photo, gives us the perception of a larger visual field. But the contents in 360 degrees photos and videos are far beyond this. You can also see what happens behind the camera, up and down.
One of the pioneering services
The clearest and most known example is Google Street View. The Google cars move through streets and highways around the world (including monuments) making photographs at 360 degrees, so that users can see not only what they have in front but also move the camera to see what’s on the sides, back, with simple mouse clicks.
That’s still photos, and is a good example of where the newer generation of pictures are headed. In these photos, the starting point is always a fixed point, and around which we can ‘tour’ the whole scene with a much more immersive feel.
Google has now launched its dedicated virtual reality headset, Daydream View VR to make consuming 360 degrees photos and videos content more immersive.
From the photos to videos
Well that’s not all, because after the photographs have reached 360 degrees, it’s time for the videos too to advance to 360 degree view.
The base is the same as the pictures: a fixed point from which images are recorded, but only, in this case moving. An example is the recording of a concert.
In a traditional video, we would see only the band performing on stage. With the same video in 360 degrees, the user can see the performance on stage and also rotate the camera and see what the public around it is doing.
The rise of this type of content is incontestable, therefore, platforms like Youtube or Facebook are already betting big on 360 degrees videos. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, said that a million people are already enjoying 360 degrees content on Facebook each day.
“The community loves 360 degrees videos. In a short time we will be able to show everyone, our family, friends, what we are seeing, the reality of what we are seeing, live, “he predicted.
Is Zuckerberg wrong? Under the commitment of the industry for this type of content, it does not seem to be far from reality. Many companies have already launched or will launch their cameras that can take 360 degrees pictures and videos in the coming months.
How do these work.? instead of a lens, they have at least two (one on each side of the camera), to form a joint image of everything that happens around the camera.
The cameras
There are several companies with products already on the market. One of the most successful is the Ricoh Theta, a camera with double lens. Another successful product is the Kodak Pixpro SP360, an action camera also records videos at 360 degrees.
Gopro , meanwhile, has launched a rig to join several GoPro cameras and recording content in 360 degrees.
But large technology firms now have also announced plans to launch cameras to record content in 360 degrees. Samsung unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona its Gear 360 , a camera with spherical dual lens (15 megapixel resolution in each one lens). It is expected to hit the market in the second quarter of 2016.
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LG also announced the future launch of its LG 360 Cam camera with dual lens of 13 megapixels, while Nikon has done the same with the Nikon KeyMission 360 or Nokia with Ozo.
From your computer or mobile, enjoying 360 degrees photos and videos is a pleasant experience. But the true meaning of this technology is when 360 degrees contents are mixed with a virtual reality glasses. It positions the user almost completely, anywhere in the world and ‘move’ (turning, up and down) without leaving from wherever they are.
It will therefore mix cameras that record to 360 degrees and virtual reality goggles. This will lead to a technology breakthrough in newer form of digital data consumption by users And undoubtedly, in this case, the experience will be very worthwhile.
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There have already been several top contenders in the VR segment and here is our latest virtual reality devices comparison. The competition is increased and it is clearly notable from our virtual reality headsets review of 2015. If you go through both of these you can understand the new entrants into the market and how seriously competitive this segment has become.
