Just about everyone agrees virtual and augmented reality are going to be important. The tech already sort of works, and will get better quickly from here. Gadgets offering the ability to truly feel as if you've been transported to another place, or to superimpose the digital world on the real one, will be transformative. Somehow. Eventually. For some reason. No one knows exactly what AR and VR will be good for, or when. They just know it's coming.
This week at CES, Google's partners are announcing two new cameras that support the VR180 standard, which refers to a new way of capturing 180-degree panoramic images.
Clay Bavor, the leader of Google's virtual reality team[1], is trying to strike a difficult balance: Bavor and his team are trying to build products that people will buy and use now, while preparing for the future, who knows how long from now, when all this world-changing stuff starts to happen. Right now, before all the tech is ready and everyone's used to it, coming up with things people want is tricky. (Just ask the folks at Oculus and Vive.) But recently, Bavor says he's found something that might be special: VR as a way to capture and relive important memories in your life.
Eyes on Eyes
This week at CES, Google's partners are announcing two new cameras that support the VR180 standard, which refers to a new way of capturing 180-degree panoramic images. Lenovo's making the Mirage Camera, designed to go along with the Mirage Solo headset, a completely wireless and self-sufficient Daydream VR headset. Yi, another Chinese manufacturer, is making a similar camera called the Horizon.
Yi's Horizon camera is another VR180 camera built in partnership with Google's...