[From Adorama; more information is available at the Tamaggo web site and in another press release here]
Tamaggo 360 Creates Immersive Images
It looks like an egg. It costs under $200. And it turns any scene into a 360-degree virtual reality with minimal effort.
PMA@CES News
By Adorama News Writer
January 12, 2012
Creating a 360-degree image usually requires setting up your camera on a specialized tripod and using software and lots of time, effort and expense. The Tamaggo 360 is claimed to be the first picture-taking device to easily create an “immersive imaging event”. It has a fully-integrated, built-in 360-degree imager that doesn’t require any post-processing or complex equipment. They even have a name for the kind of image it produces: A Tamaggraph. Look for it towards the middle of this year.
For more information, read the Tamaggo press release.
360-Imager Live, Capture, Share in 360
A first for consumers
The Tamaggo 360-imager is the first picture-taking device that captures the environment surrounding the user and creates a navigable record that turns physical experiences into digital events. Much more than a traditional digital camera, the imager introduces fully integrated, built-in, 360° technology to the consumer market that enables users to capture high-resolution, navigable pictures with just one click.
It’s not photography – it’s Tamaggraphy
The Tamaggo experience is so new that it goes beyond what consumers conceive as photography today – it is not just about what’s in front of them as they take a picture – but also what’s behind them, above or below them. It’s visually capturing – in Tamaggraph images –moments in their lives that they can then revisit, easily share on social networks via USB or wireless connection, and explore, discovering much more than what they saw “in the moment.”
Unique technology and design
The Tamaggo 360-imager goes well beyond the 360° options in today’s consumer marketplace, from fish-eye lenses to mirrors and rotating-head attachments that require users to stitch pictures together to create panoramic images. With Tamaggo, picture takers can continue to feel like they are part of an experience while capturing it, instead of having to focus on complex equipment that gives less than desirable results.
Unlike box-shaped cameras, the egg-shaped Tamaggo 360-imager is ergonomic, comfortably fits in the palm of the hand, and accommodates technology that to date has been available only for sophisticated government and commercial applications. The name Tamaggo, inspired by the Japanese word for “egg,” represents not only the camera’s shape, but also something new.
Availability/Pricing
The Tamaggo 360-imager and accessories will be marketed internationally through major consumer electronics retailers and e-tailers beginning Q2 2012. The device will be priced under $200.