By technical editor Matt Allard:
IC Real Tech who are best known for for surveillance cameras and intelligent video systems, have launched a range of 720 degree cameras at CES in Las Vegas called Allie ,but pronounced “All-ee” to represent a “Selfie” camera that shoots in all directions. Using state of the art video stitching technology the Allie turns two 360-degree camera feeds into an immersive image that lets you look in any direction you want. The perspective can be controlled to record videos, or even stream live footage.
There are 3 different models avaialble. The Allie Pro uses a special high-grade lens for home security and will retail for $3000US in March 2015. The Home and play versions which will both retail for under $500US are more suited to domestic home use and kid’s rooms.
TechCrunch are at CES and posted this video.
As far as the image quality goes, the two 13 megapixel cameras aren’t going to produce TV-quality images but I can see the professional version being used at big live news events for streaming online. The cameras could also be used for immersive live feeds at sporting events or concerts to supplement existing coverage. While not designed for portable use they can be used if you can mount and power the device on location.
The Pro version comes with 8X zoom while the Home and Play versions feature a 4x zoom. Using a gyroscopic control on mobile devices you can move around to control the angle of view. You can connect to your Wi-Fi or cable network, and view the material online or from a mobile device. The cameras can capture up to two hours of footage to an internal SD card, but can record to the cloud for longer record times. I could not find any specific information on frame rates or what type of codec it records to.
While there is already similar professional solutions available on the market, It will be interesting to see if this technology makes it way into smaller action sized cameras in the future.
