Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) yesterday said it expects to ship its latest virtual-reality (VR) camera later this year to give smartphone users high-definition 360-degree photos and videos.
Quanta with ImmerVision, a Montreal-based company with expertise in 360 degree optics technologies, yesterday made its first public demonstration of the round-shaped VR camera in Taipei before showcasing the product at the annual Computex trade show, which starts on Tuesday next week.
Although VR headsets have been dominating headlines lately, “we believe 360-degree content will be one of the important factors to drive [the VR industry],” Du Xiaojun (杜曉軍), a senior engineer at ImmerVision, told the Taipei Times.
ImmerVion’s VR camera is user friendly, as it has a magnetic back and can be used as a clip-on accessory to any mobile device, Du said.
The company’s VR camera can also be used to capture sports activities such as biking by attaching it to a bicycle, Du said.
Consumers can use it to take 180-degree or 360-degree selfies, or make it part of their home surveillance system, he said.
When asked whether the VR camera would be released sometime in the second half of this year, Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), which helps manufacture the device, said there is a good chance that would happen.
“We are fine tuning [our business strategies]. We hope to collect some feedback at Computex before shipping it,” said Johnny Lee (李光強), a senior manager at Quanta.
Industry watchers have been positive on the VR trend for the long term given the comprehensive applications to be explored and developed, while many start-ups, brand vendors and component suppliers are exploring the possibilities of VR applications.
However, Quanta has not finalized a business model, Lee said, adding that Quanta would discuss with ImmerVision about whether they would work with VR headset makers or content developers to sell the VR camera, or just sell it directly to consumers.
Lee declined to comment on whether Quanta, the nation’s biggest notebook computer maker, owns a share of, or is interested in making an equity investment, in ImmerVision.
Quanta has been making efforts to divert its business away from notebook computers by expanding into new areas such as cloud-computing products, including the Internet of Things (IoT).
“Quanta has several customers in the IoT area… It is not easy to see a significant revenue contribution yet, especially from VR devices, which are still new to the market,” an official from Quanta’s public relations division said in a telephone interview.
The company’s cloud-computing division, which focuses mainly on servers and data centers, contributed 30 percent to Quanta’s total revenue of NT$197.36 billion (US$6.04 billion) in the first quarter.
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