Facebook and RED developing a VR camera
Facebook announced at their F8 developer conference in March, announced a partnership with RED, the high-end cinema camera manufacturer to create a fully 360-degree camera.
Facebook has been throwing their hat into the ring with virtual reality for some time now. Since their $2 billion purchase of Oculus VR in 2014, Facebook has been working closely with the company to develop and improve its VR headset. A reason for the company’s acquisition was because of Mark Zuckerberg’s belief in virtual reality as a burgeoning new platform for content.
“Immersive virtual reality will become a part of people’s everyday life. History suggests there will be more platforms to come, and whoever builds and defines these, will shape the future and reap the benefits,” said Zuckerberg in an interview with MIT Technology Review.
Even though Facebook just announced this partnership, this is not the first time that they have developed a camera. The company released an open-source 360-degree camera in 2016 that costed $30,000. All of this stems from wanting to bring more content to Facebook’s video feed.
While it may not be the first time they’re producing a camera, it is the first one they are producing with someone who as much pull in the Hollywood industry as RED. This move is meant to encourage filmmakers and content creators on the high-end to produce VR content, because of RED’s reputation in camera quality.
“The idea is to enable the best storytellers and give them the best equipment,” said Brian Cabral, Director of Engineering at Facebook, in an interview with The Verge.
The camera, like the original open-source one, is going to be designed for professional video makers and is meant help bring more VR content to the consumer.
There is no information on pricing or release dates at the moment.
