Canon Tries To Metaverse Its Way Out Of Obscurity - Forbes

Canon is hoping that metaverse-style technologies volition springiness the institution a aboriginal beyond the dwindling camera business.

Canon’s CES property league didn’t marque a azygous notation of the accepted cameras the institution is astir celebrated for - a reflection of the plummeting user appetite for cameras successful the smartphone era.

Instead, the institution focused connected a bid of products that are geared for the metaverse era.

Kokomo for tomorrow?

One of the products Canon is pinning its hopes connected is Komoko, a virtual world level that allows radical to pass successful a virtual, metaverse-like space.

Unlike accepted video calling, Canon says Kokomo lets radical pass face-to-face successful “life-size setting”. Canon made overmuch of the information that you saw the afloat assemblage of the different idiosyncratic you’re speaking to, successful an echo of Mark Zuckerberg’s infamous announcement that helium was bringing legs to the metaverse.

Kokomo provides a bid of Zoom-style virtual backdrops for radical to pass in, including a Malibu trailer, a formation location oregon a upland beverage house. There’s besides a passthrough mode if you conscionable privation to look successful your ain bureau oregon surviving room.

The biggest obstacle to adoption is the hardware requirements. Both participants request a VR headset, with Kokomo presently supporting lone the Meta Quest 2. Canon says it hopes to grow enactment for different VR headsets successful the future.

Virtual basketball

Continuing the metaverse theme, Canon besides gave much accusation connected its Free Viewpoint video system, which is being trialed with 2 NBA teams.

Using a bid of cameras mounted supra the hoops court, Canon is capable to make a virtual practice of real-life hoops games. The idiosyncratic acquisition is akin to a video game, alternatively than watching existent video footage.

Canon says this has a fig of advantages for viewers. First, they tin ticker the enactment from camera angles that simply wouldn’t beryllium imaginable with accepted broadcast coverage, specified arsenic a player’s-eye presumption of a slam dunk. Fans watching from location could take from a assortment of camera angles to ticker the action.

“Younger generations already get it,” said Mike Conley, main accusation serviceman astatine the Cleveland Cavaliers, 1 of the club’s Canon is moving with. “They’re [already] doing it done gaming, doing it done Oculus [VR headsets].”

The strategy besides has advantages for the teams, including a immense magnitude of subordinate information seizure that doesn’t necessitate the athletes to deterioration immoderate peculiar tracking equipment. For example, clubs could show a player’s gait aft an awkward landing to measure the hazard of injury.

Commercial opportunities besides reared their head. For example, the virtual courts could beryllium plastered with sponsors’ logos that don’t look connected the real-life court, giving the nine caller revenue-generating opportunities.

Getting Mreal

Canon’s besides hoping to get a portion of the commercialized VR concern already scoped retired by products specified arsenic Microsoft’s Hololens, with its Mreal headset.

The Mreal X1 is simply a compact headset present successful the marketplace probe phase. The institution claims it could beryllium enactment a wide assortment of concern uses, including collaborative merchandise design, grooming and prototyping.

One objection showed however idiosyncratic wearing the headset could locomotion astir and adjacent beryllium wrong a prototype car. As the wearer of the headset looked retired of the car’s windows, they could spot the assemblage astatine Canon’s property conference, showing however the virtual and existent worlds tin (relatively) seamlessly converge.