Virtual Reality

Nokia brings its ball to the burgeoning virtual reality party

Nokia brings its ball to the burgeoning virtual reality party
Nokia hopes to ship Ozo in the fourth quarter of 2015
Nokia hopes to ship Ozo in the fourth quarter of 2015
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Ozo will be the first commercially available virtual reality camera
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Ozo will be the first commercially available virtual reality camera
Ozo's ball shape allows it to capture video from a number of angles at once
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Ozo's ball shape allows it to capture video from a number of angles at once
Ozo has eight cameras
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Ozo has eight cameras
Ozo also has eight microphones, so videos will sound as good as they look
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Ozo also has eight microphones, so videos will sound as good as they look
The VR camera isn't quite ready to ship to the public
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The VR camera isn't quite ready to ship to the public
Nokia hopes to ship Ozo in the fourth quarter of 2015
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Nokia hopes to ship Ozo in the fourth quarter of 2015
Ozo is designed primarily to be used by film professionals
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Ozo is designed primarily to be used by film professionals
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Over the past year, we've seen an explosion in the number of virtualreality (VR) headsets looking to stake a claim for our eyeballs. But for any ofthese to succeed, there needs to be VR content to immerse ourselves in. Nokiais hoping to fill this burgeoning need with Ozo, the world's first commerciallyavailable VR camera aimed at content creation professionals.

With a spherical form-factor, the Ozo looks similar to some panoramic cameras, like the Squido and Panono – or a training remote for sharpening your lightsaber skills. However, with its ability to capture stereoscopic 3D video and audio thanks to the eight synchronized global shutter sensors and eight integrated microphones that dot the device's surface, the Ozo boasts real-time 3D viewing capabilities. This means the time-consuming stitching process common to other panoramic cameras is avoided.

Nokia says content filmed with Ozo will be compatible with commercially available VR headsets, such as Samsung’s Gear VR, and will slot into existing professional workflows thanks to compatibility with existing third-party content-creation tools. Palo Alto-based VR production company Jaunt Studios pledged its support for the device through its post-production services.

"We're thrilled to introduce Ozo to the content creation world, and to define a completely new category of virtual reality capture and playback solutions," said Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies. "Ozo aims to advance the next wave of innovation in VR by putting powerful tools in the hands of professionals who will create amazing experiences for people around the world. We expect that virtual reality experiences will soon radically enhance the way people communicate and connect to stories, entertainment, world events and each other. With Ozo, we plan to be at the heart of this new world."

With the device not set to ship until the fourth quarter of this year, Nokia says it will reveal full specifications and pricing details at a later date.

The video below gives a sneak peek at Ozo.

Source: Nokia

Introducing Nokia OZO: The new Virtual Reality Camera from Nokia

View gallery - 7 images
5 comments
5 comments
TabassumSheikh
The only thing that I am envious about is that this product by Nokia has not been made for general public, or so many people would be enjoying catching some good VR pictures and videos.
AidanViana
I just need one of these I can send on holiday. Then I can sit on the beach from the comfort of my own home whenever I need to.
Timelord
Time for Apple to buy this division of Nokia and have Apple Maps give Google Street View a run for its money. Street View's panoramic stitching leaves a lot to be desired.
Lookey
Nice form factor but slightly flawed... it seems where all the VR camera designers are missing the ball is that the camera almost needs to have a split form and / or an exploded form so that it can be attached to the top and bottom of a drone (split) or it can be worn on and around a persons head or helmet (exploded). Otherwise part of the imagery will be eclipsed by the mount The other filming option is to use an invisible long-ass selfie stick but that itself will have image stabilization issues. Nevertheless, nice camera!
christopher
Hope to see content from these in movie theaters soon! Imagine being almost *part* of Avatar, looking any direction you want, etc!