Google and IMAX have announced that they’re developing the IMAX VR camera — a cinema quality camera that can record 3D 360-degree content.
IMAX’s team of engineers and camera specialists will work with Google to design the new camera from the ground up. The camera will be built to utilize Jump, Google’s platform for creating and viewing 3D 360 video.
“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,” said IMAX CEO, Richard L. Gelfond.
“IMAX is known everywhere for their incredible immersive cinematography and sound, and we’re delighted to have them contribute their decades of experience in cameras and content to the Jump platform,” said Clay Bavor, VP, Virtual Reality at Google.
IMAX will also provide Google with exclusive access to pre-existing IMAX documentary content for conversion and use with Google’s VR technology.