One of the major focuses of CES has been Virtual Reality. Here are my favorite announcements so far.
Virtual reality is fun with computer generated graphics, but if you want the real wrold in there, you need a camera. The Nikon KeyMission 360 does not disappoint. With it's claimed 4k video resolution, it's the minimum needed to get a quality image.
I haven't seen any specs on if it has a micro-HDMI output like the Ricoh Theta S. But, if it does have a 4k HDMI output, it will be kicking not only the consumer 360 camera space, but also the broadcast cameras that are rumored to cost somewhere in the $10k-$150k range.
Intel is not one that most people are thinking of when it comes to consumer VR products, but their technology has some really good potential to disrupt various industries. In particular the RealSense camera system.
RealSense has an HD camera, an infrared camera, and an infrared laser projector.
Those 3 cameras have enough resolution to do fairly high quality 3d models up close, or medium resolution models up to maybe 10 feet. But, there is another variation on their camera system for larger outdoor capture. This opens the door on so many applications for both input, modeling, and situational awareness.
I'm a little partial to the Samsung GearVR since I'm working with their team directly, but I did guess "around $600" as the launch price several days ago, so the Rift is meeting my expectations so far.
If you are inclined to build a computer with a great Titan X graphics card or 2, then go ahead and order your Rift.
Virtual Reality has made several stabs at making an entrance to consumers. But, with the availability of fast Qualcomm chips like the 810, NVidia's latest GPU's capable of processing imagery on a car going 60MPH, and hundreds of smaller companies innovationg, by the time we get to CES 2017, we will definitely be further down the road into virtual experiences.
Posted by Marshall on 2016-01-06.