LucidCam is a small, lightweight, stereoscopic camera capable of capturing 180 degree footage aimed squarely at the VR video market. The device’s IndieGogo campaign kicked off last week and in four days has pulled in over $35k of funding. We take a closer look.
It’s difficult to keep pace with the rapidly expanding world of immersive capture devices which have sprouted in the wake of the virtual reality renaissance. The number of devices coming forth has already seemingly created a somewhat a still emergent market. So, standing out from the crowd can be tough for immersive capture device startups right now.
LucidCam manages this however, not because it’s tech specs will blow your mind, but mainly due to a smart approach to the product design and mission statement. This is built to be an accessible, lightweight stereoscopic camera you can take with you anywhere.
That mission statement is summarised in 3 steps where LucidCam is concerned, as detailed on the IndieGogo campaign:
Take it Anywhere | SLIM design fits right in your pocket. Wear it, mount it or carry LucidCam as easily as your smart phone.
Capture Anything | SHOW any experience in 3D, 180° FULL HD with 1080p per eye video & 2K per eye photo quality.
Simple to Use | ONE button for image capture, video capture, and setting manipulation.
And it looks very much like the LucidCam team, based out of Berkley, CA, has hit those key markers with their device.
Currently on IndieGogo, looking to raise some $100,000 in backer funds, the LucidCam team are comprised of Stanford and Berkley university graduates, on paper a collection of very smart people indeed.
The camera itself is certainly diminutive, measuring 13cm long, 6.7cm tall and just 2.6cm deep – the whole package weighs just 225 grams. LucidCam has a couple of operating modes, but for stereocopic 3D video it can capture at up to 1080p per eye at 30FPS, that number jumping to 2k per eye in photo mode. The unit’s compbined FOV is around 190 degrees horizontal by 120 degrees vertical. Topping off the hardware is a set of microphones designed to capture binaural audio.
For such a small device, those are some pretty good specs, the 30fps capture is rate is probably not perfect for a top flight VR experience, but it’s perfectly possible to have compelling video content filmed at a different rate than it’s displayed at inside a VR headset. Think Gear VR’s Oculus Cinema for example.
LucidCam’s IndieGogo campaign offers potential backers the chance to snag a camera from $349 and are scheduled to ship in Q2 of 2016. As of writing the campaign has done extremely well, reaching over $35k in its first four days.
LucidCam looks like an extremely neat way to offer accessible, immersive video and photo capture at an affordable price. We’ve yet to see this in action as yet however, it’ll be interesting to compare quality against more expensive, less elegant rivals out there.