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Comment by johnyzee | Hacker News Reader

Here's what I am waiting for: The 360-degree 3D panorama video format. Videos are recorded by holding up the torch-like camera orb which records in every direction. You no longer just watch recordings; you explore them. On a traditional TV, besides the playback controls, you control the direction to watch at any point during playback using a simple remote control. But the real experience is wearing the VR helmet which, using head-tracking, enables you to watch in every direction during the recorded movie. You can pretty much go and re-experience your vacation, even seeing things you never saw while you were there in person.

How far are we from this being possible with current tech?

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We are nearly there. Here I am a couple months ago in Vienna with my prototype 360º video camera http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianjameswood/6103733114/in/set-... If you want more info, contact me via 360cities.net please :)

The greatest limiting factor to this becoming mainstream is the availability of cameras. Also, bandwidth and video capability is an issue: I can't download OR view 4k video on my still very capable 3 year-old macbook for example.

Now, Johnyzee I think mistakenly called it "360-degree 3d" actually, 360-degree images are 2-d, they are simply projected onto a spherical surface. They dont' however have any 3d information. Stereoscopic (i.e. "anaglyph, what people call 3-d, like what Avatar was) 360 video is another matter, and i don't think anyone has ever built that.

Paul Bourke has some notes on (static, not video) stereoscopic 360° panoramas, in his treasure-trove of stereoscopic resources:

http://paulbourke.net/miscellaneous/stereographics/stereopan...

I love it! You could experience being a human canonball without the risks.

What about throwing it of the Empire State Building or any cliff? It'd be like base jumping without the 'chute!

Man that would be trippy.

Probably THE most exciting toy I have seen in a long long time. Can't wait to get my hands on one.

Here's 360 video: http://www.immersivemedia.com/content/entertainment.php?clip...

I think it ran for about a hundred thousand dollars a couple of years ago.

This is what motivated me to start working on a 360 StreetView video recording of Buenos Aires. I'm hoping to start it soon. My homemade rig is far more primitive, though you can get good quality levels if you Do It Yourself ™.

You could also check the Sony Bloggie with the 360 attachment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmPO_teTK6s

You get a doughnut that you can later unwrap, but the vertical resolution, 512px, is very limited for my personal taste/need.

Edit: FOV is crucial for the immersion. Its funny how the coral reef link I provided reminds me of Quake 3 with "cg_fov" > 110

This isn't 3D with a VR helmet, but is 360 degree video with ability to pan/zoom/pause at will.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2010/01/world/haiti.360/index...

http://www.nimmobay.com/media/360-video/360-video-nimmo-bay-...

Disney shoots 360° movies (since the 1960s, I believe) using an array of 35mm cameras mounted on vehicles or suspended from aircraft and displays them in a round theater with handrails (which it recommends you hold onto because you'll fall over if you don't). I saw one of the resulting movies back in 1982 at Disneyland in Anaheim.

I've seen many of these (the lands at EPCOT in FL have quite a few). Never had an issue with feeling like I would fall over, but they are pretty cool.

Elphel sells something similar - http://www3.elphel.com/eyesis-4pi

Here's a 360 player: https://github.com/hi-res/360player

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