Facebook Surround 360 | An Open Source 360⁰ Camera

Approximately a year ago, for the first time, we saw a full 360 video and we were amazed. By simply turning around with a smartphone, it was possible to see everything in 360 degrees and since then, nature videos, racing videos and even concert videos have been brought out in 360.

It truly is an amazing feat and now, in conjunction with, VR headsets, 360 videos have become an entirely new experience. However, the social media giant, Facebook, has taken an interest in 360-degree videos and cameras to increase the amount of 360 videos that they have on the site and they have shown major interest in VR with the purchase of Oculus. Thus, the Facebook Surround 360 was born.

Facebook introduced their Surround 360 camera.

The Facebook Surround 360 features 17 wide-angle cameras with a resolution of 4.1 megapixels. 14 out of the 17 cameras are arranged in a circle on the outer rim of the UFO looking camera and they overlap a bit to bring about the clearest images from a 360 camera yet. The 3 other lenses are fish-eye lenses and one is situated on the top while the other two are on the bottom; this removes the pesky ‘black hole’ phenomenon that we usually see at the top and the bottom.

Facebook Surround 360 has 17 wide-angle cameras that feature a resolution of 4.1 megapixels.

All of the cameras also function with the use of a global shutter instead of a rolling shutter which reduces the amount of tearing artifacts that bring about the best quality video possible. The frame is made out of high-grade aluminum that not only ensures rigidity but acts as a heat sink for extended use as well.

The frame of Facebook Surround 360 is made from high-grade aluminum.

Even though this camera is pretty expensive – the components costing about $30,000 – the best part is that Facebook has made both the hardware and the software open-source and will be uploading the designs to Github later this summer.