Google's New 180-Degree Camera Makes It Easy to Take and Share 'Immersive' Photos — and Will Even Let You Go Live

If you find yourself wishing you could relive your last amazing vacation, Google thinks it can help — at least, in virtual reality. The company is introducing 180-degree cameras that make taking “immersive” photos and video as easy as point, and shoot.

One of the two new cameras, the Lenovo Mirage VR180, has two 13-megapixel fisheye cameras — giving it an abstract appearance of having eyes. The 180-degree field of vision means you don't even have to pick a particular subject — just angle the camera in the direction of the action, and press the shutter (or start recording).

Courtesy of Google

Through the VR180 app (on iOS and Android, the camera works seamlessly with a smartphone so you can see what the camera sees in real-time, as well as review the photos and videos you've taken. You can control the camera through the app, and also easily upload to Google Photos and livestream to YouTube

As for viewing those immersive images, you can look at them on desktop or mobile as 2D (and move the screen around to see the entirety of the images), or use a VR headset (Daydream, Google Cardboard, etc.) for the full experience.

VR180 is named for a new VR format, TechCrunch reported, that captures images in 180 degrees. Teams at YouTube and Google’s Daydream VR collaborated on the technology.