Just when you thought (hoped) the end of the Selfie age was here…
The newest way to impress your friends, guests and bosses is to offer complete coverage of your next event. And by complete, I mean, showcasing the people and the event in 360º virtual reality videos and photos.
As many of my clients will attest, I am a bit of a gadget freak and I’m constantly looking for ways to add value for my clientele and bring in new tech tools that make them look good. In addition to my standard professional gear (two cameras, multiple lenses) needed to really cover any event, I’ve also starting using drones, time lapse cameras and now, my latest acquisition, a Ricoh Theta S – a 360º camera with built in wifi that shoots and records images and videos for virtual reality applications.
It is really quite fun to play around with new tech and one of the perks of being a photographer is that I get to indulge my neophilia as part of running my business.
And it makes for a brand new view on the traditional family portrait.
As usual when I get a new toy, the first I thing I do is not read the manual. I just take it out of the box and start messing around with it. As an experiential learner I find it’s much easier just to use it and see what it can do than try to read up on everything in advance. I guess I’m also just too lazy and find pressing buttons easier and more fun than reading tech manuals.
So far I’m really excited about the potential with the Ricoh Theta S. While the image quality is still below what I would consider professional grade, the sheer novelty factor and ability for people to view images in full virtual reality more than outweighs the need for ultra sharp imagery. The first time someone sees one of these images there really is significant wow factor. I imagine it’s maybe similar to the first time someone ever saw a photograph in the early 1800s.
Basically, the device (which can be attached to a tripod or even, I’ve discovered, a selfie stick) shoots from both a front and rear facing camera at the same time producing a complete image that allows you to either “move” through it wearing a virtual reality headset (or popping your phone into a Google Cardboard type viewer). Or you can view the image on a regular screen and spin it around with your finger, seeing the image from all different angles.
Using the built in wi-fi, once the image/video is shot you send it to your phone (you have to download the free Theta app) and from there you can view the image, or share it. There is no viewer on the device itself.
The one drawback for now (which I’m sure will change as vr viewers become more commonplace) is the shareabilty of the images is rather limited. I can share photos to my Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr but not directly through email for some reason. And what gets shared is a link to the image sitting on Theta360.com.
Sharing videos seems to work a bit differently. You can email these directly (though I’m still trying to figure out why they can be emailed but don’t appear in my Theta account). You can also upload videos directly to Youtube.
It’s definitely easy to use, fun to play with and will surely be a conversation starter for your guests and attendees.
Photography never stops evolving and with each new piece of tech that emerges, a new way of telling a story comes along with it. Event coverage is about to get a lot more exciting.
