SCIENCE AND EDUCATION
Nokia enters VR production market with Ozo camera rig
Baku, July 31 AZERTAC
When Nokia bowed out of the mobile phone market it once dominated, it said it would focus on maps, network infrastructure and "advanced technologies". Now we know what that third category includes: the Ozo, a professional camera rig to create 360-degree video and audio for virtual reality headsets.
Joining a new but growing market of VR production equipment, the Nokia Ozo is a sphere with eight camera spaced evenly around it, plus eight microphones designed to capture sound in three different directions; hear a car horn behind you when watch a virtual reality video, and turn around to see the car and sense its sound shift to be in front of you.
Nokia is not aiming the Ozo at the consumer market. Instead, it wants it to be integrated into the workflow of Hollywood film directors and production companies. Making the Ozo stand out from current VR equipment is its ability to let producers view VR in real time through a connected headset. Other VR rigs require video shot with each camera to be stitched together with a computer before being viewed, which can take several hours.
Nokia also announced a partnership with California VR production company Jaunt Inc, which will use the Ozo in its Jaunt Studios, a leader in virtual reality video production.