Tag: 360°

August 8, 2020
One of the joyful things about sorting through various stuff was rediscovering my Yi 360 Camera. I’d bought this as an improvement over my original Ricoh Theta, but then didn’t do much with it last year, due to having to keep my leg elevated due to cellulitis. The camera wasn’t lost – I knew where it was, but it had turned into an anticlimax.

The one downside of the higher resolution camera was that it eats batteries.

May 22, 2019
September 18, 2017
More news of 360° video cameras.

I posted the other day about my excitement over the new Ricoh Theta V 4K/360° camera that has recently been released, and then my disappointment on reading about some of the details. This ultimately led to me cancelling my pre-order for the camera.

August 31, 2017
October 17, 2016
Since getting my Ricoh Theta S, I have used various methods to display my images here. This is a post that brings together my currently recommended methods, to show folk using the same kit what can be done.

Note that this Wordpress blog is self-hosted, which gives me free rein over what methods and plugins I use. Others using hosted solutions such as Wordpress.com may be more limited.

September 4, 2016
April 27, 2016
A combination of changes at YouTube and Ricoh’s new video driver (UVC Blender) now means that it is straightforward to stream 360° video live.

I’ve experimented a little with it, and am not yet sure if it is good enough for what I want to do with it. The picture is what it has always been – not brilliant, but ok; but on Live streaming, I’ve experienced some very poor sound; worse than when just uploading video, and irrespective of whether I use the camera’s microphone or external mikes.

April 20, 2016
I love my Theta S camera, but I found when using it on a pole, it was a bit of a handful to hold that steady and get out my phone to trigger the picture. Moreover the frustration of having to log on to the camera’s own WiFi each time – fine for an extended session of images, but not exactly conducive to a quick snap.

The simplicity of this 3D printed device is wonderful – the camera fits into the housing, held in by the tripod screw; and a lever arrangement physically pushs the button on the pull of a string. Easy to rig, and simple to use. They even include a matching ring to put on the end of the string.

April 11, 2016
More 360° nonsense for those of you not yet bored.

This is getting surreal. Checking on what was up on HugVR today, I found the Canadian chap I was talking to last night experimenting with another guy in England, attempting a two way VR hookup.

April 10, 2016
Last night, long past my sensible bedtime, I found myself chatting to a chap in Canada who was broadcasting his lounge in 360°, on hugvr.com. Hugvr is still in Beta, but is a site for live streaming 360° video. I’ve taken to checking it out on my way to bed, as a large proportion of people playing with it are in the States.

For this chap, it is his job – he has started a company producing and consulting in VR for sales, education and entertainment; I’d come across him chilling and playing with kit, but when he knew I had the same camera as the one he was using tonight, he was interested in my opinions on quality. Then when he found I was an amateur musician, he really got excited, and got his guitar out, and we spent time discussing how cool live streamed 360° could be for virtual house concerts.

January 22, 2016
It was inevitable that my purchase of a Ricoh Theta S 360° camera would spur me on to buy more tech. The big hand syndrome, where handheld pictures and video have an out-of proportion hand holding nothing (the camera having removed itself from the picture) was easily fixed by a selfie-stick/monopod.

But it also led me to play with Google Cardboard, which is a deliberately cheap design for a Virtual Reality headset. In particular, video taken with the Theta and uploaded to YouTube can be viewed using Google Cardboard, and as you move your head, the frame of view moves accordingly. It is an amazing immersive effect, even with the crudest resolution of video.

January 10, 2016
As mentioned on Facebook, having played with YouTube 360° videos for a month, YouTube is now reporting that they are not supported on Firefox. Instead it displays the raw file, which without 360° rendering appears horribly distorted.

360° video not being supported is demonstratably false. Below is an embedded YouTube 360° video. Viewing it embedded in my blog page, it displays perfectly. However, if you click through to YouTube using the YouTube icon on the video, you will be told “360° video playback is not supported on this browser.”