The Google Jump 360° Camera Rig Uses 16 GoPros

Google today announced a new virtual reality system called Jump that uses a special new camera rig created in partnership with GoPro. It’s a crazy-looking 360-degree camera array that uses 16 separate GoPro cameras.

GoPro announced its own virtual reality camera rig yesterday that uses 6 cameras. This Jump rig takes the concept to a whole new level. If you load this rig with the $500 GoPro HERO4 Black, the 16 cameras alone will cost you $8,000.

Google’s rig boasts camera syncing, multi-camera control, and long battery life — features that take some of the pain out of working with 16 individual cameras.

Once you have your footage captured, it can be brought into Google’s new Jump software for processing. The resulting footage is immersive and can be viewed with a virtual reality headset or through special viewers. Here’s an example of some Google Jump footage (you can change your perspective with your keyboard or mouse):

Engadget reports that the Jump camera rig may be offered to a small group of YouTube creators initially, but it should eventually make its way to the general public as well.