Nokia has just announced the global rollout of its OZO Live, which enables live broadcasting of 360-degree video and audio experiences with the company’s professional grade OZO camera. And to mark the occasion OZO Live will be used for this weekends Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL Fest), broadcasting live from the concert stage.
OZO Live is now available across the US, Canada, EU, China, Macau, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. The service requires the purchase of a one-year commercial license for $9,000 USD /€8000 EUR. But from now until the end of 2016 the company is offering a free 12-month license for all existing and new OZO camera customers.
At ACL Fest, which runs from 30th September to 2nd, October 2016, Nokia will use six OZO cameras to broadcast a fully-immersive, live 360-degree experience from the concert stage, set to feature headliners such as Mumford and Sons, Nathaniel Rateliff, Brett Dennen, City and Colour and Honne. The experience will be exclusively available through the Samsung virtual reality (VR) app.
“ACL Fest is an Austin original with great artists and loyal fans,” said Daniel Gibbs, Video Director for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. “VR is quickly become the most immersive way to experience the performances and relying on OZO and OZO Live to capture and deliver a first-hand VR experience to fans worldwide is the next best thing to being on stage with your favourite artist.”
While Paul Melin, Vice President, Digital Media and Technology Licensing at Nokia Technologies commented: “OZO has quickly become the preferred choice of professional VR content creators because it’s easy to use and seamlessly fits into professional workflows. OZO Live extends that capability by allowing professional content creators to broadcast live VR from events like the Austin City Limits Music Festival, giving audiences a virtual front-row seat right from their own living rooms.”
When Nokia originally launched the OZO camera back in December 2016 it was one of the most expensive all-in-one solutions for capturing 360-degree video, retailing from $60,000 USD. Since then the OZO has seen a price cut, with $15,000 being knocked off the original price in August.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Nokia OZO, reporting back with the latest announcements.