SAN MATEO, CALIF. – GoPro is aiming to conquer a new category, virtual reality.
The action-cam pioneer will acquire Kolor, a leading supplier of software for the spherical media content market. Spherical media enables a range of immersive viewing experiences and is an essential building block of virtual reality.
Kolor’s solutions enable users to combine multiple photographs or videos from multiple cameras to produce high-resolution panoramic content that can be viewed on mobile devices, the web or in a virtual reality environment. (See a demonstration video, called “Land, Sea and Air,” at GoPro.com/Spherical.)
“We are excited to welcome Kolor to GoPro,” said Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. “GoPro’s capture devices and Kolor’s software will combine to deliver exciting and highly accessible solutions for capturing, creating and sharing spherical content.”
“Land, Air and Sea” and other spherical videos from GoPro will soon be available on other VR platforms such as Oculus VR and Samsung Gear VR, the company said.
Kolor’s 360 video player, Kolor Eyes, is available from the App Store or Google Play. For a virtual reality experience, it can be used with Google Cardboard.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. All Kolor employees will join GoPro and will maintain operations at their headquarters in Savoie, France.
“Kolor’s mission is to enable the ultimate visual experience – to transport an audience to another time and space. Joining GoPro makes this possible,” said Alexandre Jenny, CEO of Kolor. “When the best spherical media software is combined with the world’s most versatile capture devices, our imagination becomes our only limitation. We’re excited to see what the world captures and shares with GoPro and Kolor.”
