Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Photography
  3. News

GoPro Fusion employs advanced stitching techniques to 360 video

Daven Mathies
By

GoPro Fusion hands on
Les Shu/Digital Trends
While the GoPro Fusion has yet to hit store shelves, the company has released more details on how its upcoming 360 camera will work, specifically looking at how it will stitch the two hemispherical fields into one spherical video. The camera uses a unique offset lens design combined with a proprietary algorithm to create a seamless 360-degree field, as detailed in a blog post by GoPro.

The GoPro Fusion, which is currently in the hands of select content creators as part of a pilot program, is the GoPro’s first all-in-one 360 camera. Standing not much taller than a GoPro Hero5  Black, it is meant to be mounted in much the same way as a regular action camera, transforming athletic feats into immersive experiences that anyone can share in. But where most 360 cams use a back-to-back lens design, the Fusion’s lenses are offset slightly.

Recommended Videos

GoPro claims this allows the company to use higher quality lenses, which tend to be longer, without the front elements protruding too far from the camera body. Apparently, it also makes it easier to clearly capture a full 360 degrees, as back-to-back lenses would actually have a larger disparity between the two fields of view.

Related

The real magic comes in the form of GoPro’s new D.WARP stitching algorithm, which is responsible for blending the two ~180-degree fields into one 360-degree frame. (In reality, each lens captures more than 180 degrees, allowing for some overlap in the stitching process.) D.WARP works by judging depth and can reduce artifacts that would otherwise occur due the slight difference in perspective between the two lenses. The result is a more natural appearance of objects in the frame, even when very close to the camera. It is the first content-aware stitching algorithm to be used commercially, and GoPro says this places it on the cutting edge of immersive video technology.

After stitching, the camera also applies blending to even out exposure and contrast differences that naturally occur between the two video fields. Poor stitching and blending can lead to a distracting experience, and with 360 video’s focus on immersion, that’s definitely not something you want.

We have yet to see how good the Fusion will be in the real world, but GoPro seems confident that it will be at the head of the pack just as the Hero5 Black is in fixed-frame action cameras.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Daven Mathies
Daven Mathies
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Daven is a contributing writer to the photography section. He has been with Digital Trends since 2016 and has been writing…
GoPro Hero 10 Black: 7 things I love and 2 that I don’t
The GoPro Hero 10 placed in an outdoor environment.

The GoPro Hero 10 Black is the company's most recent addition to its action camera lineup. I've had a chance to spend almost eight weeks with the camera to find out if the on-page specs translate to real-world usage? Here's what I loved about the Hero 10 while using it in my day-to-day life and short travels.
Seven things I loved
More responsive
The GoPro Hero 10 is much more responsive than the previous iterations of the camera. When I reviewed the Hero 8 and Hero 9, one of my biggest concerns was usability. While the functionality was amazing, the usability was not. Well, no more.

Thanks to the new processor, the GoPro Hero 10's usability is as good as its functionality. GoPro has finally done justice to its camera. Navigating through the interface feels on par with my iPhone's camera app. The new camera was a joy to use, thanks to a more responsive interface.
Amazing photos and slow-mo

Read more
The 5 best new GoPro Hero 10 Black features I love to use
GoPro Hero 10 Firmware V1.2.

When I reviewed the GoPro Hero 10 Black in September, I couldn’t help but heap praise on it. Though it’s clearly an evolutionary update to the Hero 9, the Hero 10 goes far enough to offer very real advantages over its predecessor. Between its 5.3K 60 frames per second, upgraded image stabilization, and impressive cloud storage integration, it’s certainly the most powerful action camera available right now.

However, GoPro hasn’t rested on its laurels over the past several months. Over that time, they’ve offered major firmware upgrades and even a post-launch hardware upgrade. With the Hero 10 so dramatically changed since its original launch, it’s worth taking a look at to see what else you can expect from the camera here at the tail end of 2021.
Max Superview
The GoPro Hero 10 features a 4:3 format sensor, but most video these days is displayed in a 16:9 aspect ratio. That typically means either cropping the image or putting up with black bars on the side of the display. GoPro’s Superview mode stretches the edges of the image so that you can take advantage of the entire 4:3 sensor area, but display it on a 16:9 screen at the cost of a fisheye effect.

Read more
GoPro boosts Hero 10 performance with new firmware and Enduro battery
GoPro Hero 10 Front Screen.

One of my few complaints when reviewing the GoPro Hero 10 Black was its somewhat fleeting battery life, and though I haven’t personally encountered the issue, many users have reported problems limiting recording times due to overheating. GoPro seems to have heard that message loud and clear, as they have announced a major firmware update for the camera that aims to solve the problems as well as a brand new Enduro battery.

The firmware (which will be available by the end of October) introduces three new video performance modes designed to maximize the Hero 10’s performance in different scenarios. Maximum video performance mode prioritizes high resolution, frame rate, and image quality. Extended battery mode limits resolution and frame rate to maximize recording times and battery life, while tripod/stationary video mode provides high performance when the camera is stationary, and there isn’t any airflow to cool the camera.

Read more