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GoPro is building a spherical camera mount to enter the virtual reality market

GoPro is building a spherical camera mount to enter the virtual reality market

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Just add six GoPros

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With Facebook's Oculus subsidiary making steady progress in the development of virtual reality, other companies are looking to take advantage. GoPro CEO Nick Woodman said today that the company would soon release a spherical camera mount designed to create footage that can be used in VR experiences. "When Facebook dropped the gauntlet and acquired Oculus, it sent a message that, ok there's going to be heavy development and investment in virtual reality," Woodman said at the Code Conference. "Multicamera enables spherical content.

The mount, which is shaped like a ball, houses six Hero4 cameras that can be arrayed in different directions. The cameras capture footage that is knitted together with Kolor, a VR software company acquired by GoPro in April. The resulting unified imagery will be viewable on VR headsets including the Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, and Microsoft HoloLens, according to the company. It will also be viewable on the web through services like YouTube 360.

Go Pro Spherical

Pricing information was not announced, but Woodman said the mount would come out later this year. It sounds like the sort of thing people will enjoy attaching to a new GoPro quadcopter. Here's some sample footage shot with the rig: