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This crazy lens lets you shoot full 360° photos and video with the need for stitching

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Ok, this is pretty impressive and also extremely cool. Industrial and interaction designers, Rob Englert and Meyer Giordano have created a very unique lens for, in this case, Nikon F mount that lets you get a full 360° field of view and 180° vertically in a single shot with no stitching required.

The pair founded Sphere Optics (aka “(sphere)”). Their first lens is called the (sphere) Pro1, which they describe as “the world’s first and only single-lens 360° full-spherical capture solution”. It has a focal length of 1mm with a fixed f/8 aperture and it sure does look pretty crazy on the camera. Its design, though, is a thing of beauty and has a level of obviousness that it’s amazing nobody ever did it before.

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This guy built a VR time machine from a year’s worth of Snapchat Spectacles footage

During the coronavirus lockdowns, I sure would love to have a time machine so I can travel back to all those concerts I attended and places I visited in 2019. Wouldn’t you? Well, Lucas Rizzotto did it. Kind of.

This San Francisco-based inventor wore Snapchat spectacles for an entire year, filming everything that was happening to him. He ended up using this footage to create a VR “time machine” that lets him relive any experience from 2019 that he wants. He shared his journey in a video, and it’s the best video you’ll see today. Or dare I say even this year.

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Facebook now lets you create 3D images with photos from any camera

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Facebook introduced 3D photos back in 2018, allowing your photos to appear as if they had depth and “move” accordingly as you scroll. This interesting feature has been available only to phones with multiple cameras – until now. Thanks to AI, Facebook is now unrolling this feature to many more users. From now on, you’ll be able to turn any 2D photo into 3D, even your old pictures.

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Facebook rolls out AI-based 3D images with simulated depth

After announcing 3D photos and VR memories back in May, Facebook is now rolling out the feature that can turn your 2D photos into 3D. The new feature will work both in the News Feed and VR. The technology captures the distance between the subject and the background, so it brings scenes of 2D photos to life with 3D depth and movement.

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Insta360 debuts a wireless video system for their VR cameras

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Right now, most consumer and professional 360 cameras use Wi-Fi to operate. Sadly, its limited range means you can only go so far to use it. The good news is, Insta360 users are about to get a boost in their signal. Well, at least the ones who have the $3,500 Insta Pro 360. The VR company just announced Farsight, a wireless video system that broadcasts Wi-Fi over long distances. It’s similar to DJI’s Lightbridge, but for VR use.

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Facebook soon brings 3D photos and VR memories to the News Feed

Facebook has shared a lot of updates at the F8 keynote on 1 May, and it looks like the plan to experiment with AI and VR in some interesting ways. While 360-degree photos and videos have been around on Facebook for a while, they now plan to turn 2D photos into 3D. In other words, they want to give regular, flat photos a feeling of 3D space and create a more immersive experience for the viewers.

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Facebook teams up with RED to create a fancy new VR camera

At Facebook’s F8 developer conference, the company has announced some exciting news: Facebook and RED are teaming up to develop a high-end, professional VR camera system. It will reportedly be able to capture hi-res imagery in so-called 6DoF (six degrees of freedom). The viewers will be able to explore the high-quality content in real time within virtual reality.

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Watch the new VR horror series ‘Campfire Creepers’ for free

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If you’ve ever wondered how it feels like to watch a horror film in virtual reality, then you’re in luck. Dark Corner Studios has released two episodes of the VR mini-series “Campfire Creepers” through their app for free. So grab your phone and your headset because you don’t want to miss this.

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This virtual reality project shows you what it’s like to be homeless

As virtual reality becomes more available and widespread, there are more interesting applications of this technology. Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) at Stanford has created a VR experience that lets you put yourself in someone else’s shoes. In their project, they use VR to show you what it’s like to be homeless.

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Google is buying Lytro for around $40,000,000

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Google, it seems, is acquiring Lytro. Yes, the company that made that crazy light field camera and then got out of photography to move into VR and cinema is being snapped up. In a deal which TechCrunch report to be worth either $40mil or $25mil, depending on who you ask, Google will pick up the company in an “asset sale”. Presumably, this will include the 59 patents related to light-field and imaging technology which Lytro owns.

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