Cameras

Cameras for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are devices and multi-camera rigs used to capture real scenes for immersive playback. They range from pocket consumer 360 cameras to large professional rigs built for cinematic virtual reality. This page catalogs cameras and capture systems associated with VR and AR. Many of the professional rigs listed below were released in 2015 and 2016 and have since been discontinued, while the consumer market has consolidated around a small number of dual lens 360 cameras.

Capture types

VR and AR cameras differ mainly in how they record space and depth.

Monoscopic 360 video is captured so that a single image is sent to both eyes. It can be recorded with one wide lens or a small number of lenses stitched into a sphere, and it can be viewed on a phone or computer screen as well as in a headset, but every object appears at the same distance because there is no separate view per eye.

Stereoscopic 360 video (also called 3D 360) sends a slightly different image to each eye, using two cameras or a single camera with two lenses, which reproduces human binocular vision and lets the viewer perceive depth. Most of the professional rigs in the first list below were built to capture stereoscopic 360 video.

Volumetric and light field capture record three dimensional space rather than a fixed pair of views. Volumetric capture is distinguished from 360 video because it records depth using methods such as photogrammetry, depth sensors, lidar, or light field arrays, which can allow a viewer to move within the scene with six degrees of freedom. A light field camera records the direction of incoming light as well as its intensity, so focus and viewpoint can be adjusted after capture; Lytro's Immerge was an example aimed at VR. Photogrammetry rigs build 3D models from many overlapping photographs of a static subject and are used for reality capture of rooms and objects.

Cameras also divide into consumer and professional classes. Consumer 360 cameras are self contained, inexpensive, and stitch footage in the camera or a phone app. Professional rigs combine many camera modules, often cost tens of thousands of dollars, and depend on external stitching software, which made them costly to operate; after the VR video market grew more slowly than expected, several of these products were withdrawn.

Virtual reality cameras

Stereoscopic 3D and 360 degrees

Hubblo VR

Immerge - Lytro

Jump - Google

ONE - Jaunt VR

Odyssey - GoPro

OZO - Nokia

Project Beyond - Samsung

Purple Pill VR

Surround 360 - Facebook

Vuze - HumanEyes

360° cameras

Monoscopic and 360 degrees

360Abyss - 360Heros - underwater

360cam - Giroptic

360fly

360 CAM - LG

Bublcam - Bubl

FOCUS - Link VR

Fusion - GoPro

Gear 360 - Samsung

Moto 360 - Motorola

KeyMission 360 - Nikon

Orah 4i - VideoStitch

Sphericam 2

Theta - Ricoh

Software

Mobius - Emergent VR

3D cameras

Stereoscopic 3D only

Matterport Pro 3D Camera - Matterport

LucidCam - Lucid VR

Photo only

Software

Cardboard Camera - Google

Drones with cameras

Flying Eye - 360 Designs

Motion and depth sensing cameras

ZED mini - Stereolabs

Selected systems by type and status

The table groups several of the cameras above by capture type and notes their maker and current status. It covers systems whose status could be verified from reliable sources.

Camera or rig	Maker	Type	Status
OZO	Nokia	Stereoscopic 360 professional rig (8 lenses)	Discontinued in October 2017
Jump	Google	Stereoscopic 360 platform and rig program	Service shut down on 28 June 2019
Odyssey	GoPro	Stereoscopic 360 rig (16 cameras) for Google Jump	Tied to Google Jump, which shut down in 2019
Immerge	Lytro	Light field capture rig	Discontinued; Lytro shut down in March 2018
ONE	Jaunt VR	Stereoscopic 360 rig (24 cameras)	Jaunt pivoted away from VR in 2018 and was acquired by Verizon in 2019
Surround 360	Facebook	Stereoscopic 360 rig (17 cameras), open source design	Open sourced in 2016; project repository later archived
360cam	Giroptic	Monoscopic 360 consumer camera	Giroptic closed in March 2018
Sphericam 2	Sphericam	Monoscopic 360 consumer camera	Never shipped; backers refunded in December 2017
Fusion	GoPro	Monoscopic 360 consumer camera	Discontinued
Gear 360	Samsung	Monoscopic 360 consumer camera	2017 model (SM-R210); Samsung ended app update support from 1 August 2020
Theta	Ricoh	Monoscopic 360 consumer camera	Active product line (for example Theta X, Theta Z1)
Matterport Pro 3D Camera	Matterport	Depth-sensing and lidar reality capture (Pro2, Pro3)	Active product line
LucidCam	Lucid VR	Stereoscopic 3D 180 camera	Shipped from 2017
ZED mini	Stereolabs	Stereo depth and passthrough camera for headsets	Active product

Market shift

After the professional VR camera rigs of 2015 and 2016 were withdrawn, the 360 camera market consolidated around a few consumer brands that sell self contained dual lens cameras. Insta360, founded in 2015 by JK Liu as Arashi Vision in Shenzhen, became the leading 360 camera brand, with its X series among the best selling consumer models. Ricoh continued its Theta line, and Kandao sells the QooCam series; these makers, along with newer entrants, account for most current consumer 360 cameras. Light field and volumetric capture for VR has been demonstrated largely through software reconstruction of captured scenes rather than dedicated consumer hardware.