A smart 360 degree video camera
BRG Sports, parent company of Bell and Giro, announced a smart 360 degree video camera today – integrated into selected helmets of the aforementioned brands. The proprietary 360 degree 4K video technology from 360fly can also be used to shoot conventional 16×9 video and can be detached from the helmet for some off the bike adventures.
With the matching 360fly mobile app, the user can instantly edit and share to various popular platforms. A Qualcomm® Snapdragon 800 processor powers the unit shooting at 2880 x 2880 at up to 30 FPS, and features a barometer, altimeter, accelerometer, and GPS sensor. Just as the original stand alone 360fly camera, the integrated Bell/Giro offering comes standard with Bluetooth, built-in Wi-Fi, and has up to two hours of battery life.
Currently the Bell Star, Bell Moto 9 Flex, Bell Super 2R, and the Giro Edit will be available with the 360fly feature. The first 2 helmets are motorbike ones, the third is an all-mountain MTB one, and the Giro one is for snow action. We inquired to find out which other helmets Bell and Giro helmets might be added to that list, but the company spokesperson was unwilling or possibly unable to share more details at this time.
“The benefits of integrating digital video and intuitive digital technology into action sports helmets is a ground-breaking advancement for our sports,” said Terry Lee, Executive Chairman & CEO, BRG Sports. “This “smart helmet” collaboration with 360fly is yet another landmark milestone within our 60-year history of helmet innovation and industry leadership.”
The CEO of 360fly appeared also very pleased with this new collaboration.
“From day one, our focus has extended beyond the baseline benefits of immersive 360-degree VR content, and into the expansive universe of intuitive “smart” technologies that our single lens technology enables,” said Peter Adderton, 360fly CEO. “These helmets are merely the first of many unique applications for these technologies enabled by our proprietary 360fly 4K platform.”
Some other camera features are currently being developed as we speak, and some of them are being shown at CES this week. Among those features are Live Streaming, Collision Avoidance Alert, and AutoPilot action tracking.
Pricing is not available yet and availability is predicted to be late 2016, but you can already get stand alone units from 360fly.com.
Meanwhile we hope that road and triathlon helmets will benefit from that technology too.
