GoPro has today announced the final name and price for their forthcoming VR camera. The ‘Odyssey’, which will make use of Google’s ‘Jump’ spherical video assembler, has been priced at $15,000. The company has opened a ‘Limited Access Program’ to solicit interest in the camera; the first Odyssey cameras will ship in November to folks selected from the program.
While GoPro’s famous ‘Hero’ cameras have been the basis of many DIY 360 degree recording rigs, the company didn’t announce their intention to offer a complete 360 degree recording package until May of this year. Today GoPro is further detailing their VR initiative.
Announced at Google I/O 2015, the GoPro VR camera has now been named and priced: the ‘Odyssey’, as they’re calling it, will cost $15,000. The 16 Hero4 Black cameras that enable the device to record stereoscopic 360 video would only run $8,000 if purchased individually, though the rest of the cost is presumably justified with custom firmware, syncing hardware, a Zoom H2N microphone, warranty, support, and a custom Pelican case to keep the hardware safe. The Odyssey rig can power all 16 cameras at once from an external battery or direct power source through an XLR connector.
GoPro says that Odyssey’s 16 cameras are “synced down to the pixel level to function as one camera,” though to turn those 16 individual views into cohesive video frames, the company will rely on Google’s ‘Jump‘ assembler. While each GoPro camera will capture 2.7k (4:3) video at 30 FPS, Jump will stitch the views together into stereoscopic (over-under) views at resolutions of 2k x 2k (150 Mbit/s) or 8k x 8k (600 Mbit/s).
The resulting MPEG4 videos will find a cozy home right on Google-owned YouTube, which recently added support for 360 degree videos.
While the Hero cameras are known for their performance in extreme conditions, the first iteration of the Odyssey doesn’t support the classic waterproof case accessory, limiting its use to dry environments only.
Interested in being one of the first to get your hands on the GoPro Odyssey? You can throw your name into the hat Limited Access Program, from which the first creators will be selected for the option to buy the Odyssey for delivery in November. You can Register your interest in the program at the bottom of the official Odyssey page. The camera will be made available in the U.S., Canada, UK, EU, Japan, and Brazil to start.
Samsung also recently opened signups for their own take on the VR camera, Project Beyond.
