Gallery: Up Close With Facebook’s New 360 Degree Camera

Facebook's new 360-degree camera has 17 cameras and outputs up to 30 Gbps of data when recording. Facebook has no plans to sell the camera, but is publishing the designs so others can take bits and pieces of the design to fold into their own 360-degree cameras. The VR rig's 17 cameras shoot at a combined 41 megapixels. Two of the 17 cameras face downward, so Facebook's software can automatically remove the supporting pole from the shot. Definitely looks like a probe droid. Just one camera captures video of above the camera. The camera's design will be released open source this summer, meaning anybody can make it and even sell it. The central cameras are arranged in a ring, and each have a 77-degree field of view. Wiring of this prototype is different than the product that Facebook announced today, but each camera will require its own USB cable to receive power and send data. The cameras are held between two aluminum plates which are available to buy online. Facebook engineers stressed that this project isn't only open source, but all the parts are widely available. The hull of the rig has lots of tiny holes drilled through, to provide ventilation to the cameras. The entire build costs are $30,000 in parts. Earlier prototypes of the camera, like the one pictured, only have one camera facing downwards. The model announced today has two.