Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies, explained his company's efforts to reinvent itself by manufacturing the first professional VR camera targeted at media production.
Haidamus points out that the VR headset niche is already a crowded place, with big players such as Samsung, Sony and HTC rolling out their wearable VR gadgets.
"The Head Mounted Display I saw was actually pretty good, but I felt like there was so much competition that was going to happen in the marketplace," he says in an interview with Engadget.
Nokia markets Ozo as the go-to solution for VR production due to the camera's extensive capabilities. Ozo can offer live monitoring, live streaming, 3D audio and video and automatic stitching. With such an array of functions, the device could secure the first place in the upcoming niche for the Finnish company.
To support the company's decision to invest all its efforts and resources into the Ozo, Haidamus points out that head-mounted displays will be commonly available in no time.
The advanced VR camera tackles many problems that VR content creators currently face. For example, it allows users to use a device such as the Oculus Rift to watch a live playback, recorded by Ozo.
"Ozo brings you the ability to do a live monitoring of live action on set," Haidamus notes.
This saves quite an amount of time, as directors who use existing VR recording solutions need to wait for the post-processing to be complete before viewing the final product.
Nokia's VR camera packs eight cameras, each of them able to record video clips in 2K x 2K resolution. Also, eight microphones sit next to the cameras in the smooth-lined gadget. Their positioning makes sure that Ozo can record the "sound sphere" of the environment where it is placed.
One neat feature of the Ozo is that it can incorporate object-based audio into its ambient mix by simply using a combo of RF tags and actor-carried microphones.
How much VR recording can Ozo handle? Nokia fitted the camera with a 500 GB SSD and a powerful battery, so that filmmakers can take up to 45 minutes of video footage before hot-swapping cartridges. This will allow the filming process to go on, unabated.
The general dimensions of the Ozo VR camera measure 10.4 x 6.7 x 6.3 inches, sans mount. The gadget received an Aluminum alloy structure putting the camera weight at 9.3 pounds, battery included.
"The unit itself is about the average size of the human head," says Haidamus.
As the VR era is just dawning, tech names refer to the 2016 as "Year One." The fact that the market still has room to grow encourages players to work together.
During the interview, Haidamus told Engadget that his company has a blooming partnership with 20th Century Fox, which put the pedal to the metal when it comes to VR space. When asked about what other tech names are working closely with Nokia to perfect the Ozo, Haidamus remained mum.
"[Ozo helps] if you are an artist and you want to create that connection between the viewer and your story," Haidamus states.
"We put you right there in the middle of that scene."
From the interview, it becomes apparent that the Finnish company evolved beyond the global smartphone manufacturer that it once was. In an ironic twist, the company that once was a mobile leader now carriers the flag banner for Virtual Reality.
"Knowing we're early but not too early, puts us exactly in terms of perfect timing to catch a ... technology that's disrupting an existing market," Haidamus further explains.
Nokia used to be a one dominating name in the telecom industry before Microsoft purchased its consistent mobile division for $7 billion, in 2014. Haidamus's bet on the company's virtual reality device might bring the company back in the platoon of global relevant electronics makers.
Should you be a professional filmmaker who wants to invest in the cutting-edge piece of technology, the Ozo VR camera from Nokia can be yours for "only" $60,000.
