The HumanEyes Vuze XR is a compact, dual-lens camera with an integrated handle and a neat party trick: The back-to-back lenses can flip forward to transition from 360-degree, two-dimensional video to 180-degree, three-dimensional video. After teasing the camera in July, HumanEyes announced the full list of features and U.S. availability on October 25.
The company’s previous Vuze VR camera (which we found to be a good performer in our review) focused on combining 360-degree immersive video with stereoscopic 3D, but this resulted in a rather large, eight-lens device that limited how you could use it. The Vuze XR, by comparison, is much more portable and designed to be taken anywhere.
While 360-degree content can be easily consumed on just about any device, from your smartphone to your desktop computer, the 180-degree 3D mode will require some sort of virtual reality headset (see our favorites here). For this reason, we’re not sure how useful the 180-degree mode will be for most people, but it’s certainly a unique aspect of the Vuze XR that sets it apart from other compact 360 cameras like the Samsung Gear 360.
The Vuze XR shoots at 5.7K resolution at 30 fps or 4K at 60 fps, along with capturing 18-megapixel stills. The app will also allow users to stabilize and edit video from the camera, including creating 360 panoramas, adding effects like stickers and filters, and editing using a Director’s Cut mode. The Director’s Cut allows for tracking objects around the view as well as effects like fly-ins. While stitching is done in-camera, a desktop app allows for more advanced editing and stitching functions.
Beyond saving both videos and still photos, it will also let you live stream to Facebook and YouTube along with other popular social media channels. Live-streaming is available in 360 VR180 and 3D180.
The camera ships in late November, with a $439 pre-order bundle that includes the camera, underwater housing ($100 individually) and a 64GB MicroSD card. That will put it a fair margin above many other compact 360 cameras, which have weathered rather extreme price drops since their initial unveilings (the Samsung Gear 360 sells for just $95, after launching at $300). If the Vuze XR can deliver a good user experience through software, however, it may be able to come out ahead, as we have seen with the Rylo, which has managed to hold onto its $500 launch price many months after its original release thanks to an easy to use app and some great editing features.
Pre-orders are open now, with the discounted bundle available through November 4. After the pre-orders, the camera will sell for $439 without the waterproof case and MicroSD.
Updated on October 25, 2018: Added official launch information, including full specs, availability, and price.
