360-degree

Sony has unveiled a couple of rather ballsy offerings at IFA 2011 in the form of the SRS-BTV25 and RDP-V20iP. The compact spherical units pack Sony's 360° Circle Sound audio diffusion technology that promises to deliver omnidirectional sound to all corners of a room. The SRS-BTV25 model is designed to play audio streamed from Bluetooth-enabled smartphones, Walkmans and iDevices, while the RDP-V20iP is an iPhone/iPod charger and speaker dock that can be controlled via an included remote. Read More

Not long ago, we reported on the GoPano micro panoramic lens, that allows users to shoot interactive 360-degree videos on their iPhones. Well, perhaps not surprisingly, it’s got some competition. Kogeto’s Dot lens also lets iPhone 4 users shoot videos “in the round,” although in a different configuration. Read More

If you've seen the rock video for Professor Green's Coming to Get Me, then you'll know just how fascinating 360-degree interactive video can be. Viewers are able to continuously change their point of view, looking in front of, behind, beside or even above the camera at any point in the action – it's never the same video twice, if you don't want it to be. While such technology could mean big things for feature film production, it's also set to shake up your home videos ... starting with the GoPano micro 360-degree video system for iPhone. Read More

We've written before about 360-degree video (here demonstrated with an awesome interactive video that puts you in a base-jumper's shoes) - it's effectively like watching a video in Google Street View mode, where you can look any direction you like using the mouse. Now, Dutch 360-degree video company yellowBird has announced a hookup with YouTube that lets users post 360-degree videos in their YouTube channels. And the first major production is a 360-degree music video clip that challenges the role of the film director and stretches the boundaries of interactive entertainment. Read More

Users of Google Street View and Bing Maps Streetside will be familiar with the stop-start effect as they navigate along a street. This is because as the user moves along the street the viewpoint jumps from one discreet 360-degree panorama, or ‘bubble’, to the next . A new street-level imaging system developed by Microsoft called Street Slide allows users to smoothly navigate along a street by creating a seamless transition between bubbles using multiperspective strip panoramas that provide an overview of the street. Read More

Who said film photography was dead? Definitely not Lomography, whose Lomography Spinner 360-degree camera lets shutterbugs take a full 360-degree photo with a flick of the wrist. The camera uses standard 35mm film to capture super-wide-angle images that are four times longer than standard landscape pictures, with a standard 36-exposure roll capable of capturing around eight shots. Read More

Imagine if you could take professional-looking photos and create 3D product animations as easily as using the office copier. Ortery’s Photosimile 5000 system aims to bring that capability to the office by enabling even non-photographers to create high-quality images just by pressing a few buttons. The Photosimile 5000 is a PC-controlled desktop photography studio that integrates a light box, a DSLR camera, automated camera positioning, and specialized workflow software to simplify and automate business photography. Read More