360 degree high octane VR vids are coming to Cardboard and more
GoPro is making moves into virtual reality videos. It has just announced that it is buying the French startup Kolor which builds interactive software for stitching together images and video.
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A statement of GoPro’s intention to get its videos VR ready, the acquisition means that headsets due in 2015, 2016 and beyond – such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive – will have a lot more compatible, user generated content.
GoPro namechecked Oculus and Samsung’s Gear VR platform in its announcement on its plans for ‘spherical videos’ designed for mobile, the web and VR headsets.
It also released its Land, Air and Sea 4K video below as an example of what 360 degree video captured with GoPro action cams on a spherical mount will look like. If you watch the YouTube video in Chrome, you can move around the footage with the onscreen controls.
It’s also available to view on Kolor’s 360 Video Player app which works with Google Cardboard. And let’s face it, this will probably be the way most people experience GoPro VR videos of mountain climbing, aerial drone footage and death-defying snowboarders in 2015.
As for the multi GoPro mount itself, this is already available to buy from GoPro’s Professional Solutions store. The site says to stay tuned for more info on GoPro and Kolor plan for capturing, creating and sharing interactive videos from May when Kolor joins the business.
“We are excited to welcome Kolor to GoPro,” said Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. “GoPro’s capture devices and Kolor’s software will combine to deliver exciting and highly accessible solutions for capturing, creating and sharing spherical content.”