Samsung Gear 360 Is a Pocket-Sized Virtual Reality Camera
Hands on with Samsung's consumer-friendly virtual reality camera.
— -- The home movies of the future will undoubtedly be shot in virtual reality.
Home camcorders are being put to rest as smartphones have packed easy-to-use video cameras and more storage. Samsung today unveiled the Gear 360 camera, which could be the next wave in how people capture the personal moments that matter the most to them.
"Virtual reality cameras are huge and gangly and unmanageable," Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy told ABC News. "By miniaturizing a camera, with even the ability to put this into a smartphone, removes yet another barrier to adoption for homemade VR."
The spherical camera has two lenses that capture 195-degrees each of video, ensuring nothing is missed when the footage is seamlessly stitched together to create an immersive 360-degree experience.
The device comes with a tripod, making it easy to position the camera on a flat surface to take a 360-degree selfie or video. The camera is battery powered and is equipped with a Micro SD card for storage. Wi-Fi connectivity also makes it easy to send the footage to a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone, where it can be stitched together and easily shared with friends.
One thing the camera isn't equipped for is live-streaming. However, ABC News got an advance look at the camera and found the quality of the video it produces is incredibly crisp given its size.
It turns out today's unveiling is just a tease. Samsung has yet to announce pricing or a release date for the camera. A representative from Samsung also said it's expected the camera will eventually be compatible with some older Samsung devices -- not just the new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones.
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