A large well-established company funding a smaller start-up from within its ranks is nothing new and today Ricoh announce the backing of Vecnos.
Essentially it’s the Ricoh team who designed and developed the Theta range of 360º cameras, and now as a separate company, they will be designing and developing AI optical products.
First, to be announced is a compact 360º camera that has designed for the youth market. With the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok, the new device is set to supply users with a fast social media video solution.
Taking on the style of a pen the new Vecnos 360 camera features four lenses, three around the edge and one on top that can be used to create easy 360º selfie shots.
These videos in combination with the app can be used to quickly edit and upload the footage to users social media fan base.
If the Theta 360 is anything to go by the Vecnos looks to be an interesting proposition. Ricoh got a lot of things right about the design and the usability of the Theta cameras, but there were always slight niggles. Hopefully with new funding a new direction we’ll see some interesting developments coming from this newly funded arm of Ricoh.
For now, you can keep up with Vecnos developments here and follow them on Twitter @vecnos_us.