There’s usually a talented director calling the shots at televised live events like sports or a concert, but researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute want to put some of the control in the hands of the viewer at home. They’ve developed the OmniCam360, an ultra-compact 360 degree camera weighing in at just over 30 pounds that can be easily set up by a single operator.
When placed over a field at a stadium, or on stage at a concert hall, the OmniCam360’s 10 cameras work together to create a panoramic view of the action, theoretically letting the viewer pan or simply select the specific angle they want to watch. And thanks to a clever mirrored system, distortion from the camera lenses and visible seams between each angle are all but eliminated.
Unfortunately, current broadcast systems don’t really have the capability to let viewers switch between angles during a live broadcast, but Blu-ray discs most definitely do. And the next time you’re watching a nature documentary and would rather not see the exact moment when one animal attacks another, you could easily switch to a less unsettling angle until it’s over. [Fraunhofer via Gizmag]