Google Yi Halo VR Camera Specs, Latest News: Google Officially Launches Next-Gen Jump VR Camera
Tech giant Google has officially launched its next-generation Jump camera, Yi Halo, which is a product of the company's latest collaboration with Chinese imaging company Yi Technology.
In a blog post on Monday, April 24, Google made the announcement about the Yi Halo as well as the Jump Start program for virtual reality filmmakers.
The Yi Halo is equipped with 17 4K cameras and is capable of shooting up to 8K. In addition, the VR camera's internal battery can last for up to 100 minutes of continuous shooting. It is also quite convenient to carry around as it weighs less than eight pounds.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
On the software side, the Jump Assembler takes the videos from all of the cameras and seamlessly ties them together in a few hours.
The platform is intended for pros and semi-pros, which is why it does not come cheap with its retail price of $16,999. There are also presumably other costs related to the use of Jump Assembler for stitching the video together.
Google also introduced a new program called Jump Start, which is designed to give filmmakers easy access to a hardware like the Yi Halo. By applying to the program, filmmakers have the chance to gain free access to a Yi Halo and the Jump Assembler.
Interested filmmakers are open to apply for the program's first batch until May 22 here.
Yi Technology has gained a widespread reputation in the last two years by launching cheaper but just-as-capable GoPro competitors. While the company doesn't expect the Yi Halo to draw in huge money for the company, its launch is seen as a step towards building significantly more affordable, consumer-grade VR cameras at some point in the near future.
Yi Halo is set to go on sale this summer, with units made available today for select creators. Interested creators can find more info about it on the Yi Halo website.
