VR enthusiasts in the U.S. can finally get their hands on Samsung’s Gear 360 virtual reality camera – if they’re going to an online video conference in California.
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If you’re interested in creating VR videos – and are already in the Samsung ecosystem of devices – you might also be interested in attending Vidcon for the unveiling of the Samsung Creators VR initiative.
Early retail listings hinted at a $350 price tag for the Samsung Gear 360, which is aptly named for its ability to shoot 360-degree photos and video. After VidCon, the consumer-electronics company will make the Samsung Gear 360 available for creators to purchase “at select events and activations, leading up to the consumer launch later in the year”, a rep says.
“We want to bring the power of VR technology directly to the people”, Chief Marketing Officer Marc Mathieu said in a statement. And now, Samsung’s Gear 360 is stepping into the limelight … with a catch. Today, users can essentially wave goodbye to Milk VR.
Samsung keeps pulling back the old football for Stateside consumers when it comes to the Gear 360. This program will also sponsor competitions, the first starting in July, to provide some incentive to aspiring filmmakers to develop VR content for Samsung’s platform.
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Samsung is naturally limiting the app to its devices, but claims it now offers an “end to end” solution for VR. Video streams, as with 360-degree cameras like Ricoh’s Theta S and Nikon’s KeyMission 360, are stitched together by the camera’s dedicated image processor, and the final result are videos 3,840 x 1,920 in resolution or pictures up to 30 megapixels. While the name change was likely something that Samsung envisioned as a necessity, it’s Samsung VR’s new functionality that will be more of an attention grabber, especially for everyday users.
