It fits the palm of your hand, weighs less than 180 grams, transforms in a surveillance “light bulb”, goes underwater and even flies, paired with a drone. It’s a Full HD video camera, the 360cam, from Giroptic.

Crowdfunding is the key word for many creators these days. It’s through the support from the public that many dreams see the light of day. I mentioned recently here the HEXO+: Your Autonomous Aerial Camera, a new drone that opens exciting perspectives in terms of aerial video. Well, one of the options in terms of camera to use with the HEXO+ is this 360cam from Giroptic a company from Lille, France, founded on the belief that the greatest growth in optics will be in 360° consumer cameras.

Since 2008, the company has shipped over 3000 devices to businesses. Giroptic features a versatile line of robust 360° cameras and accessories, which enables people to self-capture a full HD, 360° immersive video of themselves enjoying their favorite activities, recording important events or providing security surveillance.

For the past couple of years their team has dedicated its work to overcoming previous 360° technical limitations and has invented, they say, a ground-breaking design, with innovative engineering, and easy-to-use interface. The 360cam from Giroptic is the first ultra high definition 360° camera that breaks through the limitation of the frame to record the entire experience of the moment in 360°.

The 360cam features a unique, egg-shaped design, incorporating two key proprietary innovations:

• Three, 185º fish-eye lenses with optical assembly that delivers the industry’s largest field of view.
• Each of the lenses is synchronized to simultaneously capture and stitch images in real time inside the camera to produce a breathtaking all-around view.

The Kickstarter campaign, launched on the 20th of May, reached its goal of $150.000 in less than 24 hours, what set the team on to new goals. At the time of writing, and with 4th of July as the date to end the campaign, the 360Cam has raised $1,105,084, impressive numbers in an impressive amount of time. Compared with the other projects that somehow may be related to it names like Panono, CentrCam, which did not reach enough funding, or BublCam, the 360Cam is a clear winner in terms of public support.

Available in 7 different colors, the 360Cam offers GPS, WiFi, Gyroscope, 3 microphones and multiple options in terms of capture, from time lapse photography to FullHD Video. It can go underwater (with special googles for the lenses) and it can be adapted to a lightbulb  mounting, allowing the camera to be placed in a room, for home video  surveillance, an area where Giroptic has a long experience. The device draws power from the lightbulb socket, and uses the on-board Wi-Fi to stream imagery to your phone/home network.

The team has been listening to supporters and has also introduced, along with other things, the ability to switch from one lens to another in real time — within the same recording, allowing users to switch from the 360-degree mode to a regular, 130-degree mode. You’ll be able to record wide-angle video from any of the three lenses as you would with any traditional action camera. This ability make the 360cam ultimately versatile.

“We are so grateful to the Kickstarter community and inspired by their engagement with the 360cam project. We’ve listened carefully to their ideas and incorporated much of the input into product enhancements. We’re confident that the end result will be one aligned to the desires of the community and what we ourselves wanted to achieve with the 360cam,” stated Richard Ollier, founder of Giroptic.

Giroptic and HEXO+ teams discovered each other through Kickstarter, and they’ve decided their products could work together, so, says Richard Ollier,”the HEXO+ drone will feature a stabilizing 2D gimbal with 360cam mount and their HEXO+ app to set up your shoots. HEXO+ has just opened a new limited edition reward that includes a 360cam compatible mount for the HEXO+ 2D gimbal at $599: the READY TO FLY 360CAM.”

The HEXO+ with its autonomous aerial following system is the preferred drone for the 360Cam. For the French company, “the combination of the HEXO+ drone with a 360cam capable of 360° x 300° field of view to record photos and videos, will forever change the way you capture your life. The Sky’s the Limit with this combination.”