These days, a lot of consumer- and pro-oriented cameras provide 720-degree images, that is, 360 degrees up/down and left/right. Most of them can de-warp and stitch together images to make them appear fluid. And some of them can integrate with popular home automation systems.
But surveillance pioneer IC Realtime – known also as IC Real Tech and ALLie, depending on the product line – offers truly unique technology that makes it a natural for platform for such services as YouTube and Facebook, as well as smart-home systems like (hypothetically) Control4, Crestron and Savant.
In fact, the company announced at NAB this week a partnership with YouTube that enables any user to upload and live-stream immersive video on the site.
This is an incredible feat to be able to view and virtually wander through a venue in real time … and listen to audio corresponding to the virtual user’s vantage point. Imagine concerts … parties … operating rooms … break-ins.
Facebook implemented IC Realtime’s immersive-sharing feature last year (shown in video above), and soon it will be coming to popular home-control systems. But YouTube’s live streaming is a first.
In all cases the video, captured with dual panoramic cameras, arrives online or in-app already de-warped (flattened out, without fisheye-type distortion) and stitched together (melding images from two cameras into one seamless image).
“No one else does this,” according to IC Realtime founder and CEO Matt Sailor, during ISC West 2016, the big security conference held earlier this month.
VIDEO: Since YouTube can do live interactive-video, then so can we. Scroll around through downtown Miami.
One reason is that IC Real handles video processing on the camera itself, which is why its products tend to be more expensive than comparable products that offload much of the processing to the cloud, NVR or some other service outside the camera housing.
“With the others, de-warping is post-production,” says Sailor. “Ours is native. We do it on-the-fly. The only way we can do what we do is to handle the de-warping and stitching in the camera itself.”
All that processing otherwise would bog down smart phones, cloud services or other apps and platforms that typically perform video manipulations. Alternatively, processing is often performed locally via an NVR or PC appliance, but that means the live immersive video is not available when the camera goes mobile.
From Pro to Consumer
These days, mobility is a key tenet of IC Realtime, which started life in the professional video surveillance market, and moved into the home and personal realm a couple of years ago under the new IC Real Tech umbrella. From there, the ALLie brand was born and the company’s first consumer products were launched.
The flagship ALLie Camera with WiFi (specs here) retails for $499 and includes 24-hour cloud storage for a one-year period (normally $6.95/month for 24-hour storage; $9.95/month for 48 hours; $12.95/month for 72 hours).
To integrate seamlessly within Facebook and YouTube, the sites run special ALLie software created just for them. The user need not download an app to enjoy the immersive video, just look for thumbnails that include a 360-degree icon or some other designation that the video can be manipulated via your mouse, smart phone or virtual reality headset.
Sailor demonstrated this capability in a private suite at ISC, where he pulled up specially tagged videos on Facebook and played them within Facebook’s own app, moving his phone around to view different angles from an ALLie Camera.
This feature will be coming soon to select home automation systems, so that the user can view and navigate video from within a smart-home app. As with Facebook and YouTube, the home-automation vendors will have to embed some software into their systems to be able to incorporate interactive video.
Imagine: You receive an alert that motion has been detected at the home, at which point a live immersive image appears on your smartphone, from which you can view the area, turn on the lights, trigger a siren or unlock the doors remotely for police access.
IC Realtime has not announced its first home-control partners for live interactive 360-degree video, but the company did demonstrate its products with Savant at ISC, if for no other reason than Savant also exhibited at the security show.
Such partnerships make sense for IC Realtime, which is already entrenched in the security camp and popular among home-technology integrators.
The combination of security, virtual reality, social networking and A/V expands opportunities for both channels, Sailor says.
For professional security dealers and technology integrators, IC Realtime offers the IC720 camera with richer features than its ALLie counterpart.
Or You Could Always Do it THIS Way…
The old way (5 days ago) of doing live 360 …
Next Page: Press Releases on IC Realtime, ALLie Cam, YouTube and NAB
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PRESS RELEASE
ALLie Camera integrates with YouTube to Enable 360-Degree Live Streaming
ALLie Camera users can now live stream their 360-degree content on YouTube live streaming service
Miami, FL & Las Vegas, NV (NAB Conference) April 18, 2016 – Alongside the launch of IC Real Tech’s new ALLie Camera today, the company announced the integration of the ALLie Camera with YouTube – enabling any user to live stream 360-degree video on YouTube. With its launch, the ALLie Camera becomes the world’s first 360-degree everyday use camera with 24/7 viewing, recording, live streaming, still-capturing, social sharing and virtual reality (VR) viewing capabilities – allowing users to see it all, all the time, no matter where they are.
With the integration with YouTube, ALLie Camera becomes an ideal platform for video bloggers, sports arenas, music venues and others to give their fans or viewers complete freedom for how they see an event, allowing them to be there like never before. Users can now publicly or privately live stream events like birthday parties, weddings, graduations, concerts, sports games and more. Viewers simply swipe, zoom and pan on their phone or tablet to see what’s going on and essentially be there when they’re not – gaining complete control over their viewpoint. They can even view with the included VR headset for a fully immersive experience.
“We are excited to work with YouTube as they take immersive video even further with 360-degree live streaming,” said Dmitry Kozko, President of ALLie. “Now that the demand for real-time, 24/7 content has reached its peak, our ALLie Camera aligns perfectly with YouTube to give users the ultimate 360-degree, live streaming experience. ALLie is always on so that users don’t miss a thing, and now they can more easily share experiences with friends, family and fans on YouTube.”
The ALLie Camera also features 4K resolution, cloud recording and storage, two-way audio, live and recorded VR mode with included VR headset, among others. It doesn’t require batteries, has simple upkeep with automatically updated software and features, and can be mounted on walls and ceilings or stand on any surface.
If you’re at the NAB show, please come by our booth at C3361DPMR for a demo. For more information on ALLie Camera, and to order, visit www.Allie.Camera. The ALLie app is available on iOS via the Apple App Store and on Google Play for Android devices. You can also follow ALLie on Facebook and Twitter.
PRESS RELEASE
IC Real Tech Publicly Launches ALLie Camera as the First 360-Degree Everyday Use Camera
IC Real Tech appoints photography and video industry veteran Mark Sherengo VP of sales and marketing for its ALLie Camera subsidiary
Miami, FL & Las Vegas, NV (NAB Show) – April 18, 2016 – IC Real Tech announced the hard launch of its new ALLie Camera, the world’s only 360-degree everyday use camera with 24/7 viewing, recording, live streaming, still-capturing, social sharing and virtual reality (VR) viewing capabilities – allowing users to see it all, all the time, no matter where they are.
The ALLie Camera ensures consumers never miss any of life’s most precious moments, whether they’re home or not. Users simply plug in the device, open the ALLie app (iOS and Android) and swipe, zoom and pan on their phone or tablet to see what’s going on and essentially be there when they’re not. Unlike most cameras or home monitors that simply pan back and forth or up and down while showing a partial or fuzzy vantage point of a room, with no blind spots, and complete control over what they view. They can even view with the included VR headset for a fully immersive experience.
The ALLie Camera not only provides peace-of-mind for those who want to see what’s going on at home – it’s also an ideal solution for video bloggers, sports arenas, music venues and others who want to give their fans or viewers complete freedom for how they see an event, allowing them to be there like never before. ALLie Camera enables users to bring moments to life including:
Live streaming important events like birthday parties, graduations, weddings and more so remote family and friends across the globe can feel like they are actually there and even talk via the two-way microphone.
Live streaming sports games, concerts and other events opening attractions to a worldwide audience in real-time or replay like never before.
Video bloggers streaming commentary and events to their fans and followers in 360-degrees so they too feel like they are there with 4K resolution clarity.
Never missing family moments like baby’s first steps by always having the cameras rolling 24/7 with the ability to capture and store special moments for viewing or sharing socially later.
Seeing what the dog or cat is getting into at home or at the kennel – even if they move out of a typical camera’s field of view.
Keeping an eye on elderly family members living at home or in a nursing home to give peace-of-mind.
“In this age of always-on connectivity, everyone wants 24/7 access to what’s important to them, whether it’s that birthday party you can’t bear to miss, or a baby’s first steps that you want to capture forever,” said Dmitry Kozko, President of ALLie. “We worked hard to make the new ALLie Camera ideal for everyday use to fit any event or life milestone. And, the ability to capture a full, 360-degree view and completely control the way you see any special moment makes ALLie the most immersive way to make sure you never miss a thing.”
In addition to the launch of the ALLie Camera, IC Real Tech also announced that it has selected longtime photography and video industry veteran Mark Sherengo as VP of sales and marketing. Sherengo will spearhead the sales and marketing for the ALLie Home Camera and will lead the company’s distribution, business development and marketing initiatives to drive its leadership in the 360-degree technology space.
Sherengo comes to ALLie with over 20 years of executive experience with leading global photography and video industry companies the likes of Ricoh, Pentax, Fuji and others. At Ricoh, he was director of sales and helped the company introduce the first ever 360 camera, Theta, to the market. Prior to Ricoh, he spent 15 years in roles with the director of sales and marketing for both Pentax and Fuji. Before that, he was a professional photographer and helped run the photo lab business for the NFL for more than a decade.
“In my experience as a professional photographer and working for decades across the photography and video hardware spaces, the one theme that’s always resurfaced for both consumers and professionals has been the need to be ready to capture memories at any moment. ALLie Camera wins the innovation race when it comes to taking the 360-degree camera and making it an always on, everyday use camera so users never have to worry about mzissing a single thing,” said Sherengo.
If you’re at the NAB show, please come by our booth at C3361DPMR for a demo. For more information on ALLie Camera, and to order, visit www.Allie.Camera. The ALLie app is available on iOS via the Apple App Store and on Google Play for Android devices. You can also follow ALLie on Facebook and Twitter.
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