Nokia Announces New Virtual Reality Camera: Nokia VR Camera to Start Shipping

The $60,000 camera captures stereoscopic 3D video and spacial audio through eight synchronized shutter sensors and integrated microphones.

Sixty thousand dollars, and the first quarter next year: those were the details missing at Nokia’s July unveiling of the Ozo 360-degree video camera.

Nokia announced its new hardware a few months ago, and tonight at an event in Los Angeles revealed it’s opening preorders for the OZO virtual reality camera. Created to capture video in 360°, with quality audio, Nokia Technology’s Ozo is a high-end piece of equipment that is now available for pre-order at US$60,000 (RM254,000).

The camera is made of processed aluminum compound and measures 9.3 pounds with its lithium-particle battery, as per a spec sheet for the gadget.

With 500GB of solid state storage, the Nokia OZO can hold up to 45 minutes of high-quality footage – and if you’re willing to part with that many sheets, you’ll be able to get your hands on one next year when shipping starts in Q1 2016. Critical to the success of these devices will be abundant, high-quality VR content. That’s where the Ozo camera comes in.

“We’re at the dawn of an exciting new medium that will transform the way people connect to stories, events, and the world around them”, Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies, wrote in a statement.

Nokia OZO is used exclusively for professionals, seeking to film 360 degree panoramic content meant to be subsequently explored using a virtual reality kit.

It’s a 360 degree camera with 8 sophisticated sensors arranged in a way which captures the full field of view.

An April report from analyst firm Digi-Capital forecast that combined augmented reality and virtual reality markets could hit $150 billion in revenue by 2020, with AR taking the lion’s share around $120 billion and VR at $30 billion.