The best 360 camera manufacturers are making “immersive” drones, and DJI should be very worried
DIY Flyer has captured 360 cameras on drones for years. But what if the 360 camera can do more than the side, ramp, Langway and backward? The Insta360, the maker of some of the most popular 360 cameras, announced that it is building a drone thanks to a camera machine with two Fisheye lenses that promises “immersive” flights. If the stars remain consistent, the new drone will debut next month.
These new drones will sit under the canopy of the “Anti-Gravity” brand. The drones did not appear to have crashed into orbit. Instead, they intend to pack a full 360 camera. Insta360 says this will allow for “immersive” flights, suggesting that users will be able to interact with the 360 camera using some kind of AR goggles, such as DJI goggles. We can already imagine whether your drone flight has the same field of view as you stand in front of the glass on the top of the Seattle space needle.
A typical 360 camera works by shooting a sphere centered on itself – two lenses shot 180 degrees each. With these various cameras, it doesn’t matter how you make the lens grab the lens. This may prove that there are benefits for filmmakers who hope to capture footage on banks or twist the drone in flight. The lenses are often cut into regular 2D aspect ratios, which you will watch on YouTube, although modern AR devices such as the Apple Vision Pro can also play 360-degree lenses in an immersive way through head tracking. The trans UAV can simply provide the feature in real time.
The drone itself weighs less than 250 grams or 0.55 pounds. That’s the weight of the DJI MINI 3S, and I found it was light and filled with enough gear to bring to the scene. According to Insta360, the first heavy-weight drone was designed to “replace the inherent technical complexity of drone flight and 360-degree photography.” This means that Insta360 is planning some kind of immersive motion control similar to DJI motion controllers. The Insta360 press release still leaves many unresolved issues, and our minds buzz. We don’t know if this 360 camera drone is as capable as the company’s latest X5, although it should be able to shoot at 8K resolution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Eog2oyyxmo
The Insta360, known for its 360 camera gear and its action cameras that compete with companies like GoPro, is planning a coup for the world’s largest drone manufacturer (DJI). The company has been trapped in international sanctions to prevent it from selling all U.S. flight cameras in the past few months, and the DJI reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been banning its drone imports. The DJI has not been hit by any formal ban, although such bans may change before Christmas this year. Last year, Congress passed the CCP Drone Act, which requires the government to review any national security risks DJI drones. If it doesn’t happen before the end of the year, we might ban it altogether as the most popular drone brand.
While competitors like Hoverair face less scrutiny, Insta360 still has more room to really stand out. DJI’s last groundbreaking drone was a lightweight portable design like the Ultra-Mall DJI NEO and DJI flip that looked like a wheelbarrow. Since the U.S. imports have been banned, DJI reportedly sold drones very similar to their own DJI MINI 4 under a different brand, Skyrover.
Despite the regulatory difficulties of DJI, the entire drone industry may still be sending a wake-up slap. The Insta360 has a trail of experimental techniques, such as the GO 3s with a magnetic lens pod, which provides a completely new use case for a typical GoPro-like camera. We just need to see if Insta360 can avoid scrutiny from the Chinese Delun people who are the same as the August Big Sky.
