GoPro drone to launch in the first half of 2016

Not much info yet but at least we know the launch date:

Woodman also revealed the company is working on a quadcopter — or drone, as they’re more commonly known. He declined to share any details about its design and pricing, but it’s slated to launch in the first half of 2016 and will be aimed at consumers.
“It’s incredible to see our world from new perspectives. It’s a real ‘Oh my God’ moment,” said Woodman. “We did that with our GoPro cameras, and we see a similar opportunity in the quadcopter market. It’s something that’s in our DNA, and we are excited about it across the company.”
Though it’s working on its own hardware, GoPro plans to continue working with other drone manufacturers to provide cameras and software solutions for aerial video and photography.
“We recognize that consumers want choice,” said Woodman. “Our primary focus is enabling great content, and however they want to do that, we’re excited to be part of that.”

Woodman also announced virtual reality accessory:

The first is the Six-Camera Spherical Array. The ball-shaped accessory mount can accommodate six Hero4 cameras positioned in different directions to capture high-resolution images and video for virtual reality. The recorded video and pictures can then be stitched together using Kolor, the virtual reality software company GoPro acquired in April, to create one unified 6K spherical image.
The resulting video can be viewed on VR headsets like Oculus, Google Cardboard and Microsoft HoloLens. It can also be viewed on your smartphone or PC using the Kolor app or YouTube 360. If viewing on a mobile device, you can physically turn around to look in any direction — up, down, left, right. On your computer’s browser, you can use your cursor to get different views. Here’s an example video GoPro shot for the Code Conference.

http://recode.net/2015/05/27/gopros-next-adventure-virtual-reality-drones/

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Robert Pigeon May 31, 2015 at 9:10am

FPVRACING.TV I am only exposed to the 4 wheel motorsports part of the GoPro company and would not know where to direct you for sponsorship inquiries but I can ask.
Robert Pigeon May 30, 2015 at 2:05pm

I work on a Formula Drift team graciously sponsored by GoPro. Here is a video of our driver Tyler McQuarrie drifting a loaner car at a demo event. This video is using the 360 ball. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbA4oEHleg8&feature=youtu.be
John Moore May 30, 2015 at 9:02am

@Jeremy Why would GoPro build a new camera that only works with their drone when they can sell a drone as a accessory to all the people who already have their camera?
Jack Crossfire May 28, 2015 at 8:11pm

Will it be a Pixhawk copter, a Pixhawk copter, or another Pixhawk copter?
Darrell Burkey May 28, 2015 at 3:01pm

I'd rather see GoPro put some effort in to coming up with a better lens with less distortion.
David May 28, 2015 at 11:14am

maybe they will finally incorporate a usable image triggering interface!
Greg Dronsky May 28, 2015 at 10:28am

Without DJI or 3DR controller i don't see it working perfect. I'm very interested how will GoPro do with a drone :)
Damian May 28, 2015 at 10:05am

Based on the price of Go Pro I assume this GoPro quad will go for at least $1500 ... :)
Greg Nuspel May 28, 2015 at 8:52am

Can you imagine bayonet lenses so you could pick the focal length, RAW output with RC control. Oops I just described the Blackmagic micro.
Jeremy May 28, 2015 at 8:42am

I think they will put out their own drone (maybe use a 3dr controller though). I would imagine they would create a new camera for the drone too. Change the lens, strip the battery to save weight. They have the capabilities to build a drone around an industry leading camera platform. I would expect this to very easily challenge/beat the Phantom 3 and Solo.

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