GoPro Working On A VR Camera Array And ‘Quadcopter’ Drone

Today, GoPro announced that it was working on an array that combines 6 GoPro Hero cameras for spherical shots all at once. CEO Nick Woodman says that when Facebook bought Oculus, the ‘gauntlet was dropped’ and GoPro started work on a spherical setup that could generate content for VR.

The company is also working on a Quad Copter (drone), for aerial photography using GoPro cameras.

The array will be available in the second half of 2015. “This is treally going to be most appealing for production companies and prosumers,” said Woodman. He added that ‘normal’ people would definitely end up buying it but the first version would be for pros.

Woodman quoted the price of the current 6-camera unit as ‘DSLR-class’, so in the $1,500-$2,000 range perhaps. There have been other attempts at doing this from third parties — there’s a model on Shapeways, for instance, that allows the mounting of 6 cameras.

Woodman was interviewed today at the Code conference in California.

GoPro has become inextricably intertwined with the rise of extreme sports, but its rugged cameras are used for a variety of things outside of skydiving and motocross. As many of our devices have strived for thinness and technical superiority above all else, they have become increasingly pervious to the elements. GoPro, with its blocky but durable units, has become the go-to for any situation where you wouldn’t want to risk the family camera or smartphone, but you really still want video.

Woodman started the company in 2004 by selling shell belts out of the back of his van and taking an angel investment of $230,000 from his parents and has grown it to a business worth over $7B. He was the highest paid CEO in 2014, due to stock grants worth $285M.

These days, GoPro, which sparked the entire ‘action camera’ economy, is beset on all sides by less expensive imitations like Xiaomi’s ‘Yi Camera’ — and a recent Apple action camera patent filing caused its stock to drop $13 in a single day (it’s currently hovering around $50).

One natural offshoot of GoPro’s business could be drones, which the WSJ reported the company was looking to launch in 2015. Many GoPro users already attach their cameras to a variety of drones offered by third party companies.

Woodman has been in the headlines recently for giving up $229M worth of shares to fulfill a verbal promise made to a college roommate 10 years ago when he was getting the business running.

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