CES 2017: Ricoh Unveils Ricoh R Development Kit, Industry’s First 24-hour Livestreaming Spherical Video Camera

At CES this week, Ricoh has on display a new spherical camera capable of streaming live spherical video continuously for up to 24 hours at a time. Packaged as the Ricoh R Development Kit, Ricoh is leaving the door open for developers to create third-party applications for this unique camera.

Like Ricoh’s Theta series of spherical videos camera, the Ricoh R Development Kit uses two fish-eye lenses to capture a fully spherical image. The two video streams captured by the dual lenses are then stitched to the standard Equirectangular format in-camera in real-time — a first for the industry — resulting in full HD spherical video running at 30 fps.

The stitched video can be output to a computer or other device using either USB or HDMI. It can also be recorded to a microSD card. To achieve the impressive 24 continuous hours of stream time, the Ricoh R uses an AC power adapter.[image:blog_post:62834]

The Ricoh R Development Kit includes the camera, camera stand, downloadable software development kit, image control tools and source code. By providing these tools, Ricoh hopes to encourage adoption of the technology by industries such as entertainment, gaming, education, and scientific research. Already, beta testers have experimented with using the camera in live concert productions, remote education and more.

Ricoh foresees other applications in both personal and professional live streaming, computer vision, surveillance and telexistence — technology that enables individuals to experience another place in real-time.

The Ricoh R Development Kit, still in the prototype phase, will be on display in the Ricoh booth at CES this week. It is expected to become available in spring 2017.

For more information, visit ricohR.ricoh.

Nicole LaJeunesse
Nicole LaJeunesse
Nicole LaJeunesse is a professional writer and a curious person who loves to unpack stories on anything from music, to movies, to gaming and beyond.

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