GoPro's CEO Nick Woodman holds a GoPro camera in his mouth as he celebrates his company's IPO at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, June 26, 2014.Seth Wenig—AP
Virtual reality is becoming the name of every big tech company’s game. That includes GoPro, the company that gave extreme sports enthusiasts a camera they can strap onto their helmets.
At the Code tech conference outside Los Angeles Wednesday, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman unveiled the company’s next product: A camera system for snapping images that can be turned into virtual reality.
The new awkwardly named product, Six-Camera Spherical Array, will be available sometime in the second half of the year for an as yet undisclosed price. As the name implies, it’s made up of six cameras.
GoPro previously acquired a startup named Kolor, whose technology is serving as the backbone of the virtual reality camera system. Kolor’s software will turn the photo and video shots into virtual reality while people can use its smartphone app to view the imagery.
To get the full effect of virtual reality, users would have to don virtual reality headsets like Oculus, Google Cardboard, and Microsoft’s HoloLens. For smartphones, YouTube 360 and Kolor’s apps also work.
Woodman also said that GoPro [fortune-stock symbol=”GPRO”] is working on a drone — a quadcopter, in this case — that is slated to come out in the first half of 2016. Again, no details about pricing.
Woodman also added that while the company is working on its own drone, it would continue to work with other manufacturers whose drones can be equipped with GoPro’s cameras.
Drone Country: See America From Above
House boats appear next to the shoreline of Bidwell Canyon on Lake Oroville in Northern California on November 25, 2014. Lake Oroville is California's second largest reservoir, and is currently 70% empty as a result of the state's severe drought.Tomas van Houtryve—VIICampers appear in an RV park in Fernley, Nevada on November 25, 2014. The nearby Amazon Fulfillment Center recruits people living out of RVs to work on the floor of their warehouse during peak holiday shipping season. Many of the campers are senior citizens whose homes or savings were wiped out by the 2008 economic crisis.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA parking lot for an Amazon fulfillment center appears in New Jersey on November 11, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterA residential apartment complex appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterVacation homes appear on the New Jersey Shore on November 11, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterAn empty drive-in movie theater appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterA farm house and field appear outside Trenton, New Jersey on November 11, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterCows gather for water and alfalfa distributed by a rancher in a drought-devastated pasture in Merced County, California on November 26, 2014. As with many areas of the Central Valley of California, these cows would not be able to survive without this kind of supplemental nutrition.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA run-down neighborhood appears in North Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014. In 2012, the FBI ranked Camden as having the most violent crime per capita of any American city with a population of over 50,000. The local police installed millions of dollars of surveillance equipment in residential neighborhoods, including cameras and microphones that detect the exact location of gunshots.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIHorse stalls appear near Fernley, Nevada on November 24, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA swamp appears near Brookfield, Connecticut on November 8, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterBeachfront vacation units appear on Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Nov. 7, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterThe USS New Jersey, a decommissioned battleship, appears on the Delaware river off Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VIIA college campus appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterLacrosse players warm up before practice in Clark County, Nevada on January 20, 2014. The nearby Creech Air Force is the main command center for overseas drone strikes.Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer CenterWiggins Park Marina appears in Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014.Tomas van Houtryve—VII
