While Nokia’s smartphone business may be languishing, the company is looking to the future with a major investment in virtual reality, having revealed more about its $60,000 VR camera.
The Ozo, which the tech company has stated is the world’s first professional VR cam, captures 360° spherical video and 360×360 surround sound, and is targeted specifically at VR content creators who wish to take their creations to the next level. Nokia’s hope is that it will prove to be the center-piece of a VR future, granting users the capability of live streaming footage with its eight 2K x 2K cameras.
The cameras are placed at an equal distance between each other in order to simulate the space between human eyeballs, with them able to film in stereoscopic 3D with a 360° field of view. In terms of audio, the Ozo’s spherical body packs eight built-in microphones, able to capture sound from all angles.
It’s a relatively sizable piece of kit, weighing 9.3 pounds sans battery and measuring in at 10.4 x 6.7 x 6.3 inches minus its mount. Along with its live streaming capabilities, it can also record up to 45 minutes of both audio and video footage, which is stored on a removable SSD.
With its $60,000 tag, the Ozo is certainly one of the most luxuriously priced virtual reality cameras on the market, though it is a little facetious of Nokia to suggest that it is the very first professional device of its type. GoPro’s $15,000 Odyssey is another VR camera offering similar functionality, though with it consisting of 16 GoPro Hero4 Black’s bundled together in a saucer-esque shape, it’s a less impressive prospect than the Ozo.
Nokia’s aim is for the Ozo to eventually become the go-to tool for creators looking to produce VR content, whether it be 3D films or games, and if VR experiences a level of popularity equal to the amount of pre-release coverage the likes of the Oculus Rift have received, then Nokia could find themselves on the front line of this exciting new tech. It’s a big gamble for the company considering that there are few indicators of how well consumer models of its high-end headsets will perform when launched, but if they do take off, then the Ozo will be the kind of camera filmmakers will be looking to invest in.
