360fly™ and Drury Design Launch Virtual Reality Film Competition For Students at NYU and Rhode Island School of Design
First-of-its-Kind Competition Challenges Young Creatives to Explore the Rapidly Expanding New Frontier of Fully Immersive Film & Video
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- 360fly, Inc., maker of the category-leading, single-lens camera that captures stitchless 360-degree video, today announced the 360 VR Film Contest with Drury Design. Using cutting-edge camera equipment from 360fly, the first-of-its-kind competition will challenge film students from New York University and Rhode Island School of Design to explore the more-expansive boundaries inherent to fully immersive, virtual reality content. The end result will be a series of totally unique, original films that showcase the creative possibilities available through immersive 360-degree video.
The contest will kick off with a camera overview and advanced user tutorial from a 360fly technical expert at NYU's campus on Saturday, April 9, with submissions being accepted until May 3. Films will be showcased during Design Week in NYC at the Wanted Design space on May 17 and will also be available for viewing online at Drury Design's YouTube channel. A panel of expert judges will choose the best films in three categories: Narrative, Documentary and Experimental. The three winners will be announced June 1 and will receive $500 and the new 360fly 4K camera.
"Virtual reality represents the next chapter in the evolution of storytelling, and giving these young open minds the chance to explore it can go far in unearthing new ways to utilize it that haven't even been anticipated," said Evan Polivy, Director of Drury Design's Creative Lab. "This is very much unexplored creative terrain, which is why we're so excited about where the creative minds of these talented students will go when utilizing this immersive format enabled by the 360fly cameras."
Virtual reality and immersive video have never been more top of mind, thanks to a string of recent announcements by major media companies such as Facebook and YouTube, VR purveyors such as Oculus Rift, and consumer-friendly 360-degree mobile VR cameras such as 360fly. The overall category can be broken down into two distinct areas: professional-grade, 3D VR and consumer-level 360-degree 2D video (aka "mobile virtual reality").
Due to its 3D format, professional-grade VR is extremely expensive and time-consuming to produce. It requires highly sophisticated production and editing software to process the extreme volume of data associated with its 3D content. The end result is an incredibly realistic, totally immersive 3D visual and audio experience.
Mobile VR is affordable, readily accessible, and easy to use. Thanks to devices such as the 360fly camera, shooting, editing and sharing can be done in a matter of minutes through a mobile app. Mobile VR content is 2D and can be experienced on touch-screen enabled mobile devices or paired with a Google Cardboard VR viewer for an immersive, 2D mobile VR experience.
"With the advent of VR on a mainstream level, we're now at the precipice of a ground-breaking change in how we produce and consume video and film," said Peter Adderton, 360fly CEO. "We believe that the young creative minds that embrace and expand the possibilities of this new medium will be this category's most significant driver. That's what makes this competition so exciting, and we're proud to be playing a role in it with our technology."
Students will be utilizing the 360fly HD camera, a single-lens camera that captures an immersive 360-degree video. With its single lens, the 360fly camera allows users to easily and conveniently capture and produce a 360-degree video and mobile VR experience – without the need for stitching via high-powered and time-consuming processing. The 360fly camera comes standard with Bluetooth, built-in Wi-Fi, and is compatible with a free Android and iOS mobile app that allows users to edit and share content to popular social platforms like Facebook, YouTube and more.
The 360fly HD camera is available at Best Buy stores for $399. A new 360fly 4K camera will be available at retail stores and online at the end of April for $499. To learn more about 360fly, visit www.360fly.com or follow 360fly on Twitter and Instagram @360fly, "like" it on Facebook at facebook.com/360fly, and subscribe to its YouTube channel.
About 360fly
360fly creates unique, 360-degree digital products that inspire users to capture, share and experience life's greatest moments in 360 degrees. Our passion has led us to redefine video capture, because we believe life is too rich to capture just part of it.
360fly and the fly logo are trademarks of 360fly, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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SOURCE 360fly, Inc.
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