VR180

Action cameras and VR have been two of the most hyped new categories of photo and video over the last few years. Action cams, typified by GoPro, have definitely taken the world by storm, but sales have become sluggish as the market has gotten fairly saturated. VR and 360, in contrast, have been slow to take off. Now, Google’s YouTube, along with several consumer electronics companies, are trying to combine elements of both into something they hope will extend the role of action photography and help make something happen in the VR space. Like consumer 360-degree cameras the VR180 units have two cameras, but instead of having one face in each direction to create a 360-degree 2D image, they face the same direction and produce a 180-degree 3D image. That makes them more suitable for VR viewing – and since most VR setups don’t really allow or promote full 360-degree motion, 180-degrees is easier and more practical. You can read more about the technology and the first VR180 cameras in this piece I wrote for ExtremeTech.