Orah: Live VR Made Simple

　　While there are some cool games and immersive films to enjoy, virtual reality content is still a bit lacking. But that’s changing: As VR becomes more mainstream, expect the amount of content to increase. A new camera, called the Orah 4i, could help facilitate that. Made by VideoStitch, what makes Orah 4i different from other VR cameras is that it not only captures 4K, 360-degree video, it also streams it straight to the Internet, where anyone with a VR headset can watch it.The idea is cool, and the specs aren’t anything to shake a fist at. It comes with four fisheye lenses, two of which are angled up, and two down. They’re each able to capture 4K video (4,096 x 2,048), which is then fed through an Ethernet cable to a special box that stitches the video together. This box offers 120GB of storage, and ports for anything you’ll need – a microphone, four USB 3.0, and two USB 2.0. It also has Bluetooth, as well as Wi-Fi and LAN capabilities. All of this fits into a backpack.

　　Image used with permission by copyright holderYou might expect this to run well into tens of thousands of dollars. Until April 30, the Orah 4i costs $1,795, increasing to $3,600 afterward – still cheaper than GoPro’s $15,000 VR array. The package includes the camera, stitching box, and necessary cables.

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　　Live virtual reality content opens a range of possibilities. Immersive sporting events, concerts, and more could be watched as they’re happening – as if you’re there. It may be a while before we can head to our favorite news channel to watch VR content, but products like this show that it certainly is possible.