The IMAX Corporation is tapping Google to help develop the next in-your-face cinematic experience. The two companies are partnering up on the IMAX VR camera, a cinema-grade virtual reality (VR) camera that will allow filmmakers and content creators to deliver 3D, 360-degree experiences to audiences everywhere.
IMAX and Google are working from the ground up on this project. IMAX is bringing the capture technology. However, Google is adding in Jump, the company's VR technology that was first announced last year.
Designed in conjunction with GoPro, the Jump camera rig features 16 camera modules in a circular array to capture high-res video. According to the Jump website, the experience is "the equivalent of five 4K TVs playing at once." Computer technology is then applied to the video, in order to turn it into stereoscopic VR video.
"For nearly 50 years, IMAX has pioneered moving image capture to allow filmmakers to produce the highest resolution images across 2D, 3D, film, and digital formats," said Richard L. Gelfond, CEO of IMAX Corp. "Today's partnership with Google takes us into the next frontier of immersive experiences -- virtual reality -- and we look forward to working with them to provide our filmmaker partners and other content creators with a level of VR capture quality not yet seen in this space. VR marks an exciting area of opportunity for IMAX and we believe this agreement, which enables us to participate in image capture and content creation, is an important first step in our broader VR strategy."
In addition to the new camera, IMAX is going to give Google access to all of the company's pre-existing IMAX documentary content for conversion and use with Google's VR technology.
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