Affordable tech has finally arrived.
We’ve been experimenting with VR Photography in social media marketing for a wee bit now. It’s a fascinating space. For a long time, many people thought it took high-end specialist equipment to harness some level of interactivity. Not any more. A proliferation of technology, a rush to VR, and online platforms that can actually serve the content to social media, have changed the landscape.
With cheap-ish and affordable camera’s coming from all sorts of makers, this tech is definitely ‘here now’. From GoPro’s to Giroptic’s iPhone add-on, this technology is becoming readily available. And most of it is pretty good.
Here are a couple examples (one & two) we’ve shot using some pretty simple, although granted, not entirely cheap, camera gear. The Panono 360º Camera. You’ll literally have a ‘ball’ with it.
It looks somewhat childish like a Nerf Ball, but it’s far from a toy. You can even throw it in the air and it’ll take a shot at its zenith — although we’ve found that aspect more of a gimick than a practical application.
Here’s another example (three) using the Panono just to highlight how good a simple 360º image can look when taken in the right spot.
The first example (one), is a single image panorama. Hit the “full screen” button to see it at it’s finest. Use your arrow keys to navigate and pinch to zoom on a tablet or trackpad. It’s 8K so if you have a slow connection, it’ll load a low-resolution proxy first. To experience one of these in a VR context try this version (four) of image number one, in faux stereo vision. Grab a pair of VR Goggles, Google Cardboard or any cheap VR headset you can slip your smartphone in.
To see it in true stereo, we need to shoot these images with a pair of Panono 360º cameras. We’ll post a nodal VR of these images above soon, that you can navigate with your VR headset. This kind of interaction makes actual storytelling possible.
We think this technology has great potential for online experiences where real life one’s aren’t possible. If you’re a destination type business, this tech is awesome at conveying how good you (should) look. Well lit and staged right, these kinds of interactive shots can be hugely engaging. And after all, aren’t we all in the business of winning eyeballs? Perfect for content and social media marketers.
We’ve been using them for clients in Facebook predominantly but also integrating them into landing pages for campaign work. Even though panorama’s have been around for an age, there’s something different about them when seen through a headset.
Here’s a full-ish list of the current crop of 360º camera’s in the consumer/pro-sumer market place. We’ll post a related blog article very soon about VR Headsets, Augmented Reality and how the two are starting to cross over.
