Panoramic filming for VR is taking the world by storm, and Chinese startups are vying for a piece of the action.
Shenzhen-based Insta360 officially launched their 360-degree panoramic camera Insta360 Nano at CES 2016 this month. The Insta360 team claims the Nano is the smallest panoramic camera on the market, allowing users to attach it to a smartphone for 360 ° panoramic video.
“The Nano is the world’s smallest 360-degree camera and will be cheaper than $200 USD. It can stitch videos in real-time, live broadcast or share the videos on social media,” Insta360’s associate Chenjin Yao says.
The Insta360 Nano is an entry-level piece of hardware for the VR and AR industry. Users can download the Insta360 official app and place the Nano camera on their smartphone to start shooting a 360 ° panoramic video. Users can also try out VR viewing mode by placing their phone into a VR HMD to experience the live feel of 360 °.
It’s the consumer-friendly counterpart to their professional 4K Beta ($1,000 USD), aimed at business users. The Beta can record 4K videos up to 100 minutes long and playback video without connecting to any other power supply. Insta360 also launched two applications – Insta360 Player and Insta360 Explore.
The company has already completed 60 million yuan in financing and Mr. Yao says they aim to close a further 100 million yuan in the near future.
Other players in 360-degree cameras include Bublcam ($799 USD), ALLie Cam, Sphericam, Geonaute 360, Panono ($539 USD), 360cam ($499 USD), Ricoh Theta ($399 USD), 360Fly ($399 USD), Kodak SP360 ($299 USD), V.360 ($449 USD) and CENTR.
Image Credit: TechNode, Insta360