{"id":8419,"date":"2015-11-17T07:20:01","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T07:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress\/?p=8419"},"modified":"2015-11-17T13:01:56","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T13:01:56","slug":"the-stunning-virtual-reality-technology-behind-the-lytro-immerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/the-stunning-virtual-reality-technology-behind-the-lytro-immerge\/","title":{"rendered":"The stunning virtual reality technology behind the Lytro Immerge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual reality likely won’t become part of our regular media diet anytime soon, but the technology behind it is changing fast. Both the production process and the photographic technology supporting it continue to make impressive innovations, showing that the immersive new medium may eventually find a place outside the gaming world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

From virtual reality video editing to creating narratives fit for virtual storytelling, there is a great deal of complexity behind producing virtual reality content. Perhaps the greatest barrier, though, is the hardware it requires. Lytro, a camera maker known for its innovative technology, recently announced a new virtual reality camera system that may allow the industry to move to a new level of video quality–assuming studios will be able to afford it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Lytro\u2019s new camera system, known as I<\/a><\/span>mmerge<\/span><\/a>, is significant because of its novel approach to recording video for virtual reality. Historically, virtual reality video has been captured by picking a focal point, say at the center of a room, and recording several different perspectives from that point (i.e. in front, behind, above, below, etc.) and stitching those images together to form a coherent, 360-degree image. On the other hand, the Lytro Immerge records a single 360-degree image all at once.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It goes further than that though. Thanks to its eye-catching design, it essentially records five different 360-degree images and stitches those together, creating a virtual reality with depth and mobility. Lytro calls this the \u201clight-field volume.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

To get a sense of the perspective the Lytro Immerge offers, picture yourself standing in the middle of a room. You can look in every different direction, while also moving about a foot in any direction to get a slightly new vantage point. That\u2019s more or less the perspective provided by Immerge.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In a nutshell, you can alter your viewpoint in six different ways. Lytro calls this the \u201csix degrees of freedom.\u201d Here’s a video<\/a> of it in action. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lytro\u2019s Six Degrees of Freedom:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Move left or right<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Look up or down<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Move up or down<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Look left or right<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n

    Move forward or backwards<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  6. \n

    Tilt head side to side<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \n

    As the video above indicates, the Immerge hopes to bring high-definition, cinema-quality VR footage to the market. But as you might guess, capturing cinema-quality footage in such an immersive way produces a humongous amount of data. Because of this, each Immerge camera will be paired with its own data storage unit, a stack of servers, to store the footage. Each server will be able to hold about an hour of Immerge video.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Immerge is designed to be an end-to-end system, meaning it will do more than just shoot and record video. It hopes to address all aspects of video production. <\/span><\/span>Part of this concerns how Immerge will work in action. Since the camera will capture everything around it, the camera operator and production crew can\u2019t exactly right by it to work the controls. Because of this, Immerge can be controlled remotely from a smartphone or tablet. Integration with existing video editors, a playback device and a streaming server also fit into the Immerge’s end-to-end system.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    It should go without saying that this won\u2019t be a mass-produced product for the average consumer. Even when it eventually sells as an individual unit in 2016, it will carry a six-figure sticker price. For a more feasible option, production companies will be able to rent it out for a few thousands per day.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n

    Still, the innovative design should make Immerge a highly desired piece of equipment. It contrasts sharply with existing technology, such as the GoPro Odyssey or<\/span> <\/span>Google Jump<\/span><\/a>, both of which will stitch together footage from a 16-GoPro mount to form a coherent virtual reality. Here\u2019s an impressive display of GoPro Odyssey’s quality, although pointing the camera upward makes its limitations clear. Stitching together 16 different cameras makes their centerpoint heavily blurred.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n

    \n

    <\/p>\n

    <\/div>
    GoPro VR: New York City Jump 360 Video Shot on Odyssey<\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div>