New-Tech Europe Magazine | August 2016 | Digital edition

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Nokia expands virtual reality leadership globally with OZO launch in China

Nokia has extended its leadership position in the global virtual reality (VR) production marketplace with a China launch for OZO, the world’s first VR camera for professional content creators. OZO and its robust software suite, which dramatically reduces the time, complexity, and costs associated with capturing and editing VR content, will be commercially available in China in Q3, having launched previously in the U.S. and Europe. “We see tremendous potential for OZO in

reflects the company’s continued commitment to lead and foster the nascent VR industry by providing world-class solutions for the production and distribution of professional VR content. As such, effective today OZO is priced at $45,000 in the United States and €40,000 in the EU, with equivalent pricing anticipated in China. OZO will be available to order through Nokia reseller partners in China in September, with shipments expected in October.

China, an exciting market with immense growth opportunities for VR and OZO. There’s a genuine hunger among consumers for more immersive, high quality and professionally produced entertainment,” said Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies. “As a single-body camera giving content professionals a simple way to produce compelling content for their audiences, OZO is tailor made to fill a very important gap.” In conjunction with the China launch, Nokia also announced a partnership with LeVR – the VR division of LeEco, one of the largest online video companies in China – to distribute OZO content. LeVR intends to deploy OZO VR solutions on their platform. Nokia has also established an aggressive new global price that You may have heard of plans to use drones for delivering packages, monitoring wildlife, or tracking storms. But painting murals? That’s the idea behind a project in Paul Kry’s laboratory at McGill University’s School of Computer Science. (MRO/Multimedia) flying robots could someday help artists create outdoor murals You may have heard of plans to use drones for delivering packages, monitoring wildlife, or tracking storms. But painting murals? That’s the idea behind a project in Paul Kry’s laboratory at McGill University’s School of Computer Science. Prof. Kry and a few of his students have teamed up to program tiny drones

Announced in July 2015, OZO is the first purpose-built, professional-grade virtual reality camera designed to dramatically reduce the time, complexity and costs associated with VR production. The OZO portfolio continues to expand with the forthcoming OZO Live and OZO Player SDK commercial releases, creating the only market solution that can simultaneously capture 3D 360 video and spatial audio – two must-have features to deliver a truly immersive end-user VR experience. Announced at NAB 2016, OZO Live has been used by select partners during the summer to successfully stream live 3D 360 degree VR at top-tier entertainment, sports and news events, including World Youth Day, and a P!nk concert at the Hollywood premiere of Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Dot-drawing with drones

to create dot drawings – an artistic technique known as stippling. It’s no simple feat. Programming the aerial robots to apply each payload of ink accurately and efficiently requires complex algorithms to plan flight paths and adjust for positioning errors. Even very slight air currents can toss the featherweight drones off course. The drones, which are small enough to

fit in the palm of a hand, are outfitted with a miniature arm that holds a bit of ink-soaked sponge. As they hover near the surface to be painted, internal sensors and a motion capture system help position them to dab the ink in just the right places.

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