{"id":427540,"date":"2017-10-11T08:41:27","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T08:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/10\/11\/nokia-kills-off-ozo-high-end-virtual-reality-cameras\/"},"modified":"2017-10-11T08:41:27","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T08:41:27","slug":"nokia-kills-off-ozo-high-end-virtual-reality-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/10\/11\/nokia-kills-off-ozo-high-end-virtual-reality-cameras\/","title":{"rendered":"Nokia kills off Ozo high-end virtual reality cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nokia is winding down its high-end virtual reality camera division.<\/p>\n
The Ozo and its follow-up the Ozo+ had been marketed to professionals as being able to capture the \u201chighest quality\u201d 360-degree footage possible, and had been used by Disney among others.<\/p>\n
But despite a recent price cut, the Finnish firm indicated that sales had been weaker than expected.<\/p>\n
One expert said it reflected the fact that public appetite for VR content was still very limited.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Nokia said it now planned to dedicate its efforts to developing smart health products instead, and would leave it to others to build on its work in VR.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe slower-than-expected development of the VR market means that Nokia Technologies plans to reduce investments and focus more on technology licensing opportunities,\u201d\u00a0it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unit aims to halt development of further versions of the Ozo camera and hardware, while maintaining commitments to existing customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
It added that 310 jobs were being cut as a consequence, affecting posts in Finland, the UK and US.<\/p>\n
Helicopter shots<\/h2>\n
The original Ozo was first unveiled in July 2015. The handheld device featured eight cameras and the same number of microphones in order to capture both spherical video and spatial sound.<\/p>\n
It initially had a $60,000 (\u00a345,500) price tag, bringing it in line with the kind of other cameras commonly used for Hollywood movies and TV commercials.<\/p>\n
Disney was\u00a0one of the early adopters, using the equipment to create interactive behind-the-scenes footage for its Jungle Book film.<\/p>\n
It was also used by London-based production house Alchemy VR for a forthcoming natural history documentary about the Galapagos Islands. The company\u2019s head of production welcomed the possibilities that its relatively small size opened up.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>NOKIA<\/span><\/span>Image caption<\/span>Nokia brought out a second-generation product earlier this year at a lower price than the original<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cThe Ozo is probably the simplest camera in the world to use,\u201d Ian Syder told the TVTechGlobal\u00a0news site.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really changed the way we do VR. Suddenly, the riskier shots are possible \u2013 you can put it on a motorised dolly [cart], or strap it to a helicopter.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, others were more critical.<\/p>\n
The UK-based production house SpeedVR warned clients that the file sizes which the camera created were huge, and that it struggled with scenes featuring shadows or highlights.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor around a tenth of the price you can get higher quality elsewhere,\u201d\u00a0it blogged last year.<\/p>\n
In April, Nokia announced\u00a0a follow-up system\u00a0\u2013 the Ozo+ \u2013 promising better dynamic range and sharper, cleaner images to address clients\u2019 criticisms.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>NOKIA<\/span><\/span>Image caption<\/span>The amount of storage required and processing time involved add to the costs of using Ozo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
It went on sale for $45,000 but was discounted to $25,000 five months later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ozo has clearly been a much smaller niche product than Nokia anticipated,\u201d commented Ben Wood from the CCS Insight tech consultancy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge was that this was extremely early stage technology and users often found it took a long time to process the content.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd unfortunately, 360-degree content and virtual reality more broadly have not taken off as quickly as many in the industry had hoped \u2013 despite the support of platforms including Facebook and YouTube.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Ozo\"](\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/_98251565_whatsubject.jpg\")
Image copyright<\/span>NOKIA<\/span><\/span>![\"Ozo\"](\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/_98251566_whatsubject.jpg\")
Image copyright<\/span>NOKIA<\/span><\/span>![\"Starr](\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/starrwoman_posts.jpg\")
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