2015 THETA Developer Contest Winners

Leonard Bogdonoff asked about the images on the front of the 2016 THETA contest web site.

The images are from the winners of the 2015 contest.

In particular, this image is from PanoMeasure2 from ZoomScape. They won the Application Utility section prize

The software can be downloaded. (version 0.39)

Introductory movie

Usage fundamentals

This shows measurement using an image

Full list of 2015 contest winners

2016 THETA Developer Contest Info

2015 Grand Prize Winner: HoloBuilder

HoloBuilder is a web-based tool that enables everyone to upload, share, embed and enrich Theta images.
Users can easily upload their Theta or other 360° images and create virtual projects, e.g., in terms of virtual tours by linking the pictures to each other. Furthermore, holobuilder offers the possibility to add virtual objects and information to any Theta image. Unlike many other tools with which you can just create a virtual tour or even only upload one picture for sharing, holobuilder enables the user to link his Theta images and add further information.

This way Theta users can interact with their pictures in a whole new way. The users can, e.g., create virtual tours with info boxes that provide interesting facts about the scene or the photographer’s personal comments. Furthermore, they can include virtual 2D & 3D objects to enrich their Theta images, e.g., add virtual furniture to an image to redecorate their apartment. Additionally, animations can be added to all of the 2D/3D objects. This way special content can be highlighted by, e.g., letting it bounce up and down. For limitless creative possibilities the users can even build their own custom animations for their holos. Also, holobuilder provides a variety of predefined 2D/3D objects as well as upload functionality for 2D/3D content. This way the user is provided with the most common 3D objects but not limited as they can upload whatever they want for enriching their Theta images. Besides great new interaction possibilities, holobuilder offers easy and fast sharing & embedding.

For each holo, a share link and an HTML snippet are created automatically. This way Theta users can easily share their images and virtual tours on social networks or embed them directly into their website. The share link as well leads to an automatically provided discussion board so that creative people can not only share but also talk about their innovative ideas and experiences. For creating a holo visit https://www.holobuilder.com/index.html and launch holobuiler (works best on non-mobile devices and with Google Chrome Browser).

Beside the viewing option in a browser we provide the app “Player for holobuilder” ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitstars.holoplayer ).
This app enables viewing on mobile devices and offers some great options, like unsing the smartphone sensors to navigate (you can watch the whole photosphere by moving your smartphone around) and switching to stereo mode for Google Cardboard, for a great virtual reality experience.

We also provide a companion app for instantly uploading taken theta photos to our Webeditor ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitstars.panouploader ).

$45,0000 in Prizes for the 2016 RICOH THETA x IoT Developers Contest

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Application API Winner: 360HDR

360HDR is a simple tool for HDR capturing with RICOH THETA. You can create 360-degree HDR image.

Features

  • Take 360-degree HDR images with RICOH THETA.
  • Look around in 360-degree HDR image with the iPhone’s gyro.
  • Save HDR image(.png) in Photos folder.
  • Save Radiance(.hdr) file in 360HDR’s documents folder.
  • Use the hdr files for Image Based Lighting.

$45,0000 in Prizes for the 2016 RICOH THETA x IoT Developers Contest

Gadget Winner: Ambisonics360 Microphone

Overview

We have developed this multichannel surround microphone that captures sound in all directions exclusively for spherical video shooting. The audio player developed for the microphone perfectly matches the recorded sounds with the view on the screen. It offers a feeling as if you are present in the scene.

Motive

Sound of 360-degree videos recorded by existing devices including RICOH TEHTA is just normal stereo sound direction. Even though we can freely change the viewpoint, the sound is still unchangeable.
For instance, when you heard something from your right and moved the viewpoint to the right direction, the sound still comes from the same direction, i.e. right.
The 3D audio effect employed in 3D videogames has now become commonplace. So, we thought we might be able to create a microphone and a player that match the recorded sounds with the viewpoint in all directions.

System Structure

Ambisonics360 Microphone consists of four microphones each of which has directionality along the direction of each peak of a regular tetrahedron from its center. Along with the video shooting, the portable recorder separately records sounds captured by four independent channels. When playing, the recorded sounds are mixed into two channels that are fed to a headphone, by calculating from the direction of the view on the screen. This scheme is based on the concept of Ambisonics, the surround sound technology introduced in the 1970s.

Goal

I believe everyone has an experience that old memories are evoked by nostalgic sounds such as sound heard in the town streets where you grew up: sound of school bell, sound of temple bell, etc.
Here we are focusing on something we cannot see, but it is as important as what we can see. We proudly suggest this surround microphone can offer the sounds perfectly synchronized with the spherical video of RICOH THETA.

With the appearances of cutting-edge devices such as Oculus Rift, VR technology has attracted a great deal of attention; however, most of the attention is about visual representation. Our attempt here is also a challenge to gather attention on audio reproduction.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” and “seeing is believing” are both true, but, on the other hand we assert, hearing is also believing.







Audio Demo

$45,0000 in Prizes for the 2016 RICOH THETA x IoT Developers Contest

1 Like

RICOH THETA Award for Application API: THETA GPS

GPS control for RICOH THETA. App allows you to start and stop recording when a given location is reached. Just define a set of POIs (points of interest), such as the start point of a single track or tourist attractions. The THETA camera will then automatically start capturing when entering these regions.

Features include:

  • Start/stop recording when entering or leaving a POI (geo fence).
  • Standard, hybrid, and satellite maps.
  • Option to show notifications.
  • Search for addresses (using Openstreetmap address service).
  • Compatible with Ricoh Theta and Theta m15 only. The app is not compatible with the Theta S.

$45,0000 in Prizes for the 2016 RICOH THETA x IoT Developers Contest