The Grand Canyon brings awe, wonder and inspiration to most who see it. But few have taken the inspiration drawn to such lengths as Thomas Hayden, a former river guide and founder of 360 Labs. The project he started 10 years ago is finally available for all to enjoy. And, in fact, most of us have already seen the results. If you’ve used Google Street view, that was just the start. Now, with a custom rig of modified GoPro cameras we can control the video view the Grand Canyon in 360 degrees.
“What we do, photographers have been doing for over 100 years. Taking multiple images, side by side, with a bit of overlap and matching them together to get a wider field of view. With today’s digital technology in both hardware and software, we are now able to stitch all possible angles together and do it with up to 60 frames per second video.” said Hayden in a recent press release.
At the request of Western River Expeditions, Hayden and Doug Holton arrived at Lee’s Ferry to begin a six-day river trip focused on getting both 360 degree video and stills for viewers to interact with and enjoy the marvels and wonders of the Grand Canyon.
As of now, the 360º video interaction is only available on desktop and laptop computers as well as on newer Android phones running the Chrome browser. Push play in the viewer below, then adjust the viewing angle with your mouse to look left, right, up or down. Be sure to check out the different ways this sort of image can be viewed, namely, ways that looking from with in a sphere can be projected onto the flat surface of your screen. Click the little gear icon in the lower right corner and choose the “Little Planet” setting.
More 360 degree videos can be seen at 360labs.net. And some of the 360 degree photos are available on the Western River Expeditions website.
