Samsung targets VR developers with new 360-degree 3D camera

Samsung unveiled a new 360-degree "Project Beyond" VR camera today during its developer conference in San Francisco, pitching it as a way for VR developers to both record and livestream 3D footage for use in games and apps. The company is gearing up to release the "Innovator Edition" of its Gear VR mobile VR headset next month, and the debut of the Beyond camera (alongside the simultaneous public release of the Oculus Mobile SDK for Samsung's Gear VR headset) suggests Samsung is moving to establish a strong presence in the emerging VR market. It's not alone, either -- 3D video production startup Jaunt, which also developed its own near-360-degree camera for capturing 3D footage, raised millions to make VR movies for the Oculus Rift earlier this year. Samsung declined to say anything about when the Beyond devices will be available to developers or how much they'll cost, but it did make sure to note that each one sports sixteen cameras capable of uniting to capture roughly a gigapixel of 360-degree 3D footage every second.