RICOH R Development Kit Now Available for Pre-Order

Ricoh first announced the RICOH R Development Kit at the CES 2017 back in January. Now, the company showcases the industry’s first camera capable of delivering up to 24 continuous hours of fully spherical, 360-degree live video streams at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Ricoh also announced that the kit is available for pre-orders now. However, don’t get too excited, the camera will only start shipping sometime in May. The price of the kit is $499 and those who would really like to be among the first ones to have it can pre-order it from http://ricohR.ricoh.

What is so great about this camera? As we already mentioned, it is capable of delivering up to 24 continuous hours of fully spherical live video streams. The camera streams these videos in 2K resolution at 30 frames per second. What makes it unique is the use of RICOH R technology. This allows the stitching of video within the camera in real time to the Equirectangular Projection Format. This is the standard format for fully spherical images. The resulting video is then output via HDMI or USB. Users can also opt to continuously live stream for up to 24 hours by using an AC power adapter. The captured videos are stored onto a microSD card. Thanks to this feature, the camera is truly thin and lightweight.

The RICOH R Development Kit doesn’t only consist in a camera. It also includes a camera stand, downloadable software development kit (SDK), and image-control tools and source code. The Ricoh camera offers open API and the “RICOH R Console” which allows users to control the camera via USB. Thanks to this feature, owners can use the camera in a variety of environments and industries. The camera is perfect for telepresence and computer vision. Given its variety of uses, the $499 price tag is quite reasonable. After all, it is the first camera capable of delivering up to 24 continuous hours of fully spherical, 360-degree live video streams.