Virtual reality is neat but it is not easy to come out with VR contents as usually requires custom camera rigs. Since Google is very much into VR through its Google Cardboard platform, the company apparently has decided to tackle this issue with something that called as Jump which was just announced a short time ago during Google I/O 2015’s keynote.
Generally, Jump is an initiative by Google to enable more people the means to capture VR video. It has three elements altogether and one of them is the camera rig which utilizes 16 camera modules in a circular shape. Just like Google Cardboard viewer, the company will share the rig’s plans later this year for anyone out there that are adventurous enough to craft it from any materials that they like.
As for the camera module, they can use off-the-shelf cameras as well. Alternatively, content creators can also opt for the Jump camera rig by GoPro to get things started immediately.
The next element in Google Jump is the assembler which takes all the raw footages and then synthesize them to become 3D VR content. It apparently involves some serious computing power from thousands of computers but Google didn’t dive much on its availability during the keynote apart from stating that it will be available for select creators worldwide later this year.
The last piece of the puzzle is a player and Google already have it all along: YouTube. Basically, all the contents created through Jump can be enjoyed using the YouTube app in a smartphone that is slotted into a Google Cardboard viewer. The support for Jump contents will come to the app starting this summer as well although users will be able to check out non-3D 360-degrees content through YouTube app later this week.
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