Nokia OZO: The VR Gamechanger?

Nokia unveils OZO, professional VR experience

 A look at Nokia's OZO virtual reality camera

With the recent launch of Samsung's Gear VR and the upcoming launch of other virtual reality devices viz., Occulus, HTC's Vive and Sony's Play Station VR, it is clear that the consumer VR era is about to be ushered. 

A PiperJaffray report estimates that the market for VR content will be worth $5.4 billion by 2025, while a study from Digi-Capital suggests that the entire VR industry will be a $30 billion annual business by 2020. PiperJaffray says that number will be $62 billion by 2025.

Nokia is aiming for the Ozo to be an essential tool in the creation of those billions of dollars in content by combining the ability to record both video and sound in 360 degrees. That’s something Nokia Technologies president Ramzi Haidamus says will make the Ozo a "category-definer," and a "game-changing" device that "enables a deeper human connection and empathy between storyteller and the person seeing the experience."

Priced at $60,000, the Nokia OZO was launched in Los Angeles recently featuring a live VR broadcast of a rock show being played on the rooftop of the famous Capitol Records building in Hollywood.

 "What we’ve been saying, is that the only way for me to get you to look behind you, or to the left of you or the right of you in VR is with directional sound." - Ramzi Haidamus about VR sound

The Ozo weighs eight pounds and is about the size of a melon, or a human head. That makes it portable, allowing filmmakers, Nokia believes, to take the camera just about anywhere. That includes mounting it on large drones, enabling high-quality aerial VR footage.

The OZO is capable of recording high resolution 2K (2048 X 2048 pixels) images from each camera. Audio is captured via 8 built-in mics which recreate spatial 3D audio for a realistic sound experience.

Original Article: Daniel Terdiman at Fast Company