Simola Hill Climb 360° Video for Google Cardboard

The Virtual Reality company took one of their 4K virtual camera rigs to the 2016 Simola Hill Climb in Knysna from 6 – 8 May to capture the excitement of this unique event in 360 degrees.

It was the third Hill Climb sponsored by Jaguar and the seventh running of the event overall and this year saw record crowds attend from across the province and the country.

The event is run on a steep uphill road near the Simola Golf and Country Estate. The road is 1.9 kilometres long and competitors in various vehicle classes try to race up the hill as fast as possible. Until 2016, no competitor has been able to break the magical 40s barrier, despite the fact that some of the cars deliver as much as 1 800 horsepower.

For the Virtual Reality company, the event was a quick trial run for its new virtual rig, which comprises of nine 4K high-resolution action cameras capturing video in 360 degrees and one camera facing up.

“The new set-up, which we have designed and printed with a 3D printer, allows us to stitch a full 360-degree panoramic dome. The only space that is left out is the base of the tripod, which we use to add branding or information to the video,” says Gerald Ferreira, founder and designer of the new Virtual-Reality rig.

Ferreira explains that the perfect placement of the cameras and the high resolution of the 4K cameras allow for rapid video stitching and project turnaround.

360° Video Jaguar Simola Hillclimb

https://youtu.be/uPYjDtalBQA

If you want to watch the video in virtual reality you can go to the 360° Video on YouTube and click on the Google Cardboard option!

“Because we position the cameras perfectly, we do not have to spend a lot of time in studio aligning the different videos in sequence and setting the timing. This has allowed us to turn around videos as quickly as 24 hours or even overnight, depending on the client’s needs.”

At this year’s event, Franco Scribante finally broke the magical 40s barrier with a final run of 38.646 seconds. Scribante raced a custom-built Chevron with a high-revving V8 built from 2 Suzuki Hayabusa engines. His achievement is especially noteworthy, since he crashed the car during the early-morning test runs and the team rebuilt the broken suspension in time for him to qualify and compete in the King of the Hill final race.

First in the Supercar class was a near-standard Nissan GT-R from racing legend Jaki Scheckter. Scheckter ruled the class that included vehicles such as a Lamborghini Aventador, Jaguar F-Type R, McLaren 650 and Ferrari 458.

In one of the camera tests, the rig was placed between the pits and the start, a short stretch of tarmac that allows the competitors to warm up their tires and show off to the expectant crowd.

“We have uploaded the video straight from our rig, with only basic stitching and no editing as a showcase of the inherent quality of our virtual videos. The video captures some of the excitement of the day and will give everyone that could not attend the event a good idea of the layout and atmosphere,” says Ferreira.

Simola Hill Climb 360° Video for Google Cardboard

360° Live Streaming Video – Google I/O 2016

360° Live Streaming Video – Google I/O 2016

This is one of the most awesome experiences I have had since the launch of Virtual Reality and 360° video. I am a technology junkie and love technology. Heck we already build our own virtual reality 360° video camera in 2011 and our company is one of the pioneers in creating virtual reality and 360° videos.

The awesome part of the Google I/O 2016 live 360° video broadcast of the Google I/O 2016 conference is that I live in South Africa. I really wanted to be at the Google I/O events but being based in South Africa I had to skip the event.

This changed today! Although I was not at the actual Google I/O 2016 event, I watched it via their YouTube 360° video live streaming of the event

https://youtu.be/lFm4s50PnmY

I loved every part of it, usually you had to wait for reporters to report on the event, or get clips from editors who edited the event. You only got to see what the video editors wanted you to see. You also only got to see it when they released it and what they released. With the live 360° video stream it felt as if I was there, heck I got so immersed in the experience that I even clapped hands when people were clapping hands!

Google Virtual Reality

Being into virtual reality and 360° video production, software development and virtual reality hardware development. Today’s live streaming where google is going to talk particularly about 360° videos and the progress they made in virtual reality in the past 2 years is particularly going to be interesting to me! It is rumored that Google is going to launch a much higher quality headset today, and also advancements to their Google Cardboard virtual reality applications and software… so I am sitting here with my headset on enjoying every moment of the conference so far, as if I am there.

How is Virtual Reality and 360° video live Broadcasting changing the industry of PR

In my opinion businesses should take important note of what exactly google did today. I don’t have the official statistics of how many people signed in to watch the live 360° video streaming of Google IO 2016. But from the YouTube stats already 165 824 people watched the event online, without being there. Now if Google invited 10 000 people to the event, they have just managed to make 160 000 more people than what the physical event venue could accommodate part of the event. (As if they were there!)

• Lets say you invite 100 people (media and vip) to a press conference at 100 x R 1000.00 per head it would cost your company R 100 000.00. Imagine the saving by broadcasting in 360° virtual reality and you attract 100 000 views with your live broadcast. To host 100 000 would have cost +/- R100 000 000.00 to host the people at R1000.00 per head.

360° Live Streaming Video – Google I/O 2016

Virtual Reality Game: Hellblade 360° video teaser

If you are not excited about virtual reality yet, you should check out the Virtual Reality Game Hellblade 360° video teaser. We are just in the beginning stage of virtual reality.

Think of virtual reality at the moment, as smartphones back in the 90’s. Then take a look at the Hellblade 360° virtual reality video game that is being developed, and you will be amazed. It is hard to imagine where virtual reality is going to be in 10 years from now, but from the looks of it, things in virtual reality is going to get so real, that it is going to be hard to distinguish what is real and what is not real.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice 360° video

https://youtu.be/1RKOb33tpD4

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is an upcoming video game being developed and published by Ninja Theory for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. The game is set for release in 2016. The story is based on Celtic myth. The game is focused on Senua’s (Melina Juergens) point of view, as she embarks on a very personal journey through a hellish underworld made up of Senua’s psychotic manifestations of her own reality and mind.

360° Video Virtual Reality Game Development

The Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice is still in early development and Ninja Theory is calling Hellblade an “independent AAA” game, by which they mean that it will be developed and published independently but with all the quality and production values of any AAA game on the market.

According to Ninja Theory, over the course of the last 14 years they have developed three key strengths that define their games: ninja-class combat, strong character stories, and a unique art vision.

In Hellblade they want to take these three key strengths to the next level. Hellblade will be an experience focused on delivering a deep character in a twisted world, with brutal uncompromising combat.

The game was announced at Sony’s Gamescom 2014 media briefing on August 12, 2014, where a trailer was shown.

Hugues Giboire, who is the art director of previous Ninja Theory game Heavenly Sword, also returned to work on the game. A Microsoft Windows version of the game was announced on 9 January 2015. Ninja Theory said they are considering 4K resolution and mod support for the Windows version.

The first ever “Early In-Development” gameplay was shown “Closed Doors” on Gamescom 2015 and after that published on Ninja Theory official YouTube channel

Hellblade is being worked on by 15 people from Ninja Theory as of early September 2015. According to the development team, the game’s development was started “afresh”, and some of the game’s original ideas were retired.

The game’s official title, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, was announced in March 2016.

By the looks of it the game is going to be awesome, and might just be the best virtual reality action game for 2016/2017!

I can’t wait to get my hands on the game!

Virtual Reality Game: Hellblade 360° video teaser

Buy Google Cardboard in South Africa

If you are looking for a shop to buy Google Cardboard in South Africa you just found it. We sell Google Cardboard virtual reality glasses. The Google Cardboard glasses is made from high quality cardboard and optical lenses. The VR Cardboard glasses is inspired by Google Cardboard, and made to the exact specifications as the official Google Cardboard.

BUY GOOGLE CARDBOARD IN SOUTH AFRICA from our online store

The new version of the glasses is called Google Cardboard Version 2. It is the second generation of the first Google Cardboard glasses. New features and upgrades to the original include better optical lenses. The lenses are bigger and provides a much better immersive experience than the first version of Google Cardboard.

The first version of the glasses came as a DIY kit, where you had to assemble the Google Cardboard device yourself. The new Google Cardboard Version 2 device comes assembled. It also features a protective sleeve that protects the Google Cardboard device from wear and tear and is quite a neat feature. When you are not using the glasses you simply slide it into the protective sleeve, when you want to use it again you just slide it out, fold open the Google Cardboard glasses and bob is your uncle.

The Google Cardboard device is the most affordable virtual reality headset in the world. Google created the cardboard version in 2014 and many people thought that it was a joke. Since then Google have sold millions of these devices. They provided the plans for creating the Google Cardboard device as open source and thousands of other companies like our Virtual Reality company manufacture and sell these devices.

If you want to buy Google Cardboard in South Africa, visit our online store where you can purchase it

What can you do with the Google Cardboard VR Glasses?

• You can watch 360° videos using the Google Cardboard VR glasses


• You can play Virtual Reality games, using the Google Cardboard Virtual Reality glasses


• You can watch normal videos and still images with the Google Cardboard device.


• You can get immersed into Virtual Reality using the glasses


• Use virtual reality applications

Custom Branded Google Cardboard Glasses

For Corporate clients and businesses we provide custom branded virtual reality glasses. We also provide discounts on large orders, making it ideal for businesses to hand out the Google Cardboard devices to clients or to provide clients with corporate gifts. For more information on custom branded Google Cardboard glasses you can contact us.

Buy Google Cardboard in South Africa