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GoPro has officially announced that it is expanding its business by entering the virtual reality and quadcopter markets with devices that will be released within the next 12 months.
Code Conference is one of the most popular technology events of its kind and the CEO of GoPro has joined the stage alongside Re/code’s Kara Swisher in order to talk about his company’s plans.
CEO Nick Woodman has given a glimpse of GoPro’s future, confirming that the world-renowned action camera maker will develop a drone of its own as well as a virtual reality device, as these two have been pinpointed as the markets which will grow exponentially in the near future.
GoPro quadcopter slated for 2016 release by the action camera maker’s CEO
GoPro is the undisputed king of action videography and photography. Most people who perform extreme sports are wearing or using the company’s Hero cameras to record their adventures. However, analysts have long said that the manufacturer must expand its business in order to grow even more. Well, GoPro is listening and it has revealed its plans for the future at the Code Conference.
Speaking with Kara Swisher from Re/code, CEO Nick Woodman has confirmed that the company wants “to see our world from new perspectives”. As Hero cameras are used in combination with many drones, GoPro has decided to build a quadcopter of its own.
The Hero camera maker is excited by the growth of the drone market, so it is time to implement its own ideas. The GoPro quadcopter does not have a name or pricing range, yet, but it will be released on the market during the first half of next year.
Six-Camera Spherical Array for virtual reality devices to be released in 2015 by GoPro
The second new GoPro product will have implications in the virtual reality industry. It consists of a Six-Camera Spherical Array with the shape of a cube or a ball that supports six Hero cameras.
The Spherical Array allows the six cameras to capture photos at the same time and to stitche the shots at a quality of 6K. The images will be spherical and the technology is supplied by Kolor, a company which has been purchased by GoPro in April 2015.
Moreover, this spherical mount allows the cameras to record videos, too. They can be shared on YouTube 360 as well as on Kolor and they can be accessed by virtual reality goggles, such as the Oculus Rift. This way, VR headset users can explore certain locations from the comfort of their homes.
Although the action camera maker does not expect to sell a huge amount of Spherical Arrays at first, CEO Nick Woodman sees a lot of potential for this market. As a result, this mount will become available by the end of 2015.