Samsung is poised to enter the personal, 360-degree camera market, having showcased their plan for the Galaxy Gear 360 at a reveal that included an appearance from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook owns Oculus, who partnered with Samsung for the Gear VR headset).
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This announcement comes in the wake of GoPro’s own version of a 360-degree camera, the Hero 4, which is somewhat of a botched venture for them—causing their revenue to falter recently.
Samsung’s camera, depending on how they price it, could be a game changer if it succeeds where the Hero 4 did not.
It would be an excellent tool for the communications department of any sports team to put out some easy-to-make virtual reality content. Who wouldn’t want to see their favorite team warming up before a game, with a full stadium view in every direction? This could then be a launching point for more virtual reality on social media, and in the general public.
The #GalaxyLife means capturing all the action. In 360 degree angles. #Gear360 pic.twitter.com/vDDk6Qqcor
— Samsung Mobile US (@SamsungMobileUS) February 22, 2016
The Galaxy Gear 360 is shaped like a small ball, and looks easy to transport. It has two fisheye lenses, which work together with the help of a 15-megapixel sensor to craft the 360-degree viewpoint. It shoots 30-megapixel photos and records video with 3840×1920 resolution.
This is a natural step for Samsung, whose Gear VR is the most popular mid-range virtual reality headset on the market.
While this obviously functions as a means for teams to push out more virtual reality content than ever, it might actually grant teams a competitive edge too. Before the 2015 college football season, University of Tennessee Sports Technology Coordinator Joe Harrington created homemade virtual reality software to train his players.
As more and more teams have started to use virtual reality software to train their players, a high quality, yet cheap 360-degree camera could be very helpful for college and high school level sports to develop their own virtual reality programs.