F8 2016: The Facebook Surround 360 is an open-source 360-degree camera with 17 lenses

Facebook’s F8 conference got off to a great start. As expected, the highlights of the event were live video and chatbots for Messenger . What wasn’t expected however was an open-source 360-degree camera for Facebook live. The camera’s been labelled the Facebook Surround 360 and features 17 cameras bolted to a saucer-shaped chassis (think UFOs). 14 wide-angle cameras are scattered around the chassis, a single fish-eye camera is placed on top and a couple of fish-eye cameras are placed at the bottom. All things considered, the 17 cameras should get you a complete 360 degree shot of the surroundings. Facebook’s developed software for stitching all the images together and this software is web-based, which means that the processing will happen online. The Surround 360 is expected to beat just about every 360-degree camera out there as most 360-degree capture solutions only use two-camera setups. The camera itself is a feat of engineering, but what’s more interesting is that the camera is going to be open-source and the design can be tweaked to your heart’s content. TheVerge reports that the camera can “work for many hours without overheating” and that the device can capture video in 8K. Pricing details aren’t very clear at the moment, but it’s expected to cost around $30,000 (around Rs 20,00,000) to build the device. TheVerge also points out that GoPro has a 16 camera rig, the Odyssey, that goes for $15,000. Facebook’s Surround 360 camera is open-source however, which might give it an edge. Facebook revealed that the designs for the camera will be made available on GitHub this summer.