360 Video Brings a New Perspective to the Race Track
Vintage car collector Tom McIntyre had not raced his original 1966 Cobra since the early 80s. Now worth a decent fortune, he dared charm this snake around the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track qualifying for Group 4B at the 2017 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Asked why he would put such a treasured car at risk, he simply offered that "you only get so many chances to race here - it was the Cobra's turn."
See Tom's pre-race interview in this video:
For a different on-board perspective than the go-to Go-Pro static viewpoint, we captured a full around view with new 360 camera capture technology. A curved lens on a round body 360Fly camera saves a spherical image file (on a wifi/usb linked processor inside) that can then be downloaded and reformatted to 360 degree Point of View photos and video.
The small form factor of the camera allows it to be placed in the smallest of places for angles and perspectives you cannot achieve with a traditional camera. Mounted inside the cockpit of a track car, recorded 360 clip playback on VR glasses allows viewers to see all around during the race action as if they were in the car racing. Recording and functions can be controlled by cell phone.
The following video is best viewed on a smartphone with Samsung GearVR or other 360Fly VR viewer. On your PC, use the mouse to control the 360 degree viewpoint during 2D playback. The camera view changes depending on where you turn your head or screen, so you can watch cars pass front to back.
Though an interesting experience 360 video is a bit clunky to work with, is not very touch interactive (with the phone strapped to your face) and the native editing tools are not yet there to try to make for a more crafted experience. But the concept of capturing all of the surrounding above ground view in one spherical lens shaves a lot of time and effort off trying to stitch multi-cam systems and files together.
You can buy and hold a lot of new perspective in your hand for $500.
https://www.specialcarstore.com/content/60-degrees-cool-180-degree-turns-360-degree-perspective
https://www.specialcarstore.com/content/rolex-monterey-motorsports-reunion-2017-chance-taken
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