There’s a new 360-degree camera in town, but it’s not made by any company you’ve heard of. Vecnos is a new brand, spun out of the Japanese company Ricoh, which is known for its imaging products and printers as well as some of the best 360 cameras around.
Ricoh will continue to make 360 cameras—the spherical videos captured by these devices have proven popular among amateurs and professionals creating immersive content. However, Shu Ubukata, the brains behind 360 imaging products like the original Theta series, will be leaving Ricoh (along with his team) to lead Vecnos as CEO. Vecnos will operate as a subsidiary of Ricoh, which is also the new brand’s largest investor.
“The majority of Ricoh’s business is office equipment,” Ubukata told WIRED (with Vecnos senior vice president Kiyoshi Hashimoto serving as a translator). “To make a new product, a new culture, they decided we should make a new company. We are part of Ricoh, but Ricoh decided we should be very independent like a startup company.”
The camera’s unique design features four lenses at the top—three facing outwards in a ring and one pointing straight up.
Photograph: VecnosVecnos’ first product is a small 360-degree camera shaped like a wand. It looks kind of like the Neuralyzer from Men in Black. The company hasn’t yet shared the name of the camera or its price, but we know a bit about its design. There are two buttons on the grip for controlling the camera. At the tip, there’s a proprietary system that houses four len