Halifax-based VR interactive has a solution it believes will allow digital content producers to create navigable 3D environments simply and cheaply.

The company’s system begins with the ‘surroundphoto.com’ reflector, a simple piece of gear consisting of a base on which a digital still camera is positioned beside a 45-degree mirror. A rod protruding from overtop the mirror supports a circular reflector. The user can take a picture and then transfer it to their computer, and the company’s downloadable software will convert it to a virtual reality movie capturing a 360-degree environment.

The movie, exported to the QuickTime format, supports embedded objects and audio. Samples of 360-degree pictures on the company’s website allow the user to navigate horizontally and vertically throughout the setting, with the capability of zooming.

VRi has opted for a business model in which it does not charge customers for its software. Users preview the panoramic photos they’ve taken, decide which ones they want to keep, and pay for them individually at the company’s website.

VRi has thus far targeted the tourism, hospitality, real estate and retail markets, but with the increased interest in interactive entertainment, VRi is now looking at the production industry. The system can be used for the Matrix-like effect of moving around one object or for a virtual background, which could ultimately cut down on location shooting. The zoom feature reveals somewhat fuzzy images, so digital camera resolution may have to improve somewhat before producers embrace the system.

As far as live-action panoramas, VRi chief technical officer Dr. Craig Summers comments that the company is working on the technology. *

-www.vri.ca