“What we’ve heard from 360º content creators is the need for an effective wireless monitoring solution and an ability to share content live with others around the world,” said Nicol Verheem, CEO of Creative Solutions, part of the Vitec Group which ownsTeradek. “Our answer is Sphere, the world’s smallest and most flexible system for wirelessly monitoring and live-streaming 360º video content.”

Sphere is a combination of hardware and software featuring a patent-pending video processing platform for iOS and OSX. “By dynamically adjusting each camera’s white balance, tint, exposure and lens distortion in real-time, Sphere is able to display and stream a consistent panoramic video,” the firm says.

Sphere’s hardware interface features four HDMI inputs and a built-in H.264 encoder that can encode up to 10Mbps, providing a “realistic 360º-video experience”. When connected via Ethernet to a wireless access point, Sphere streams in real-time to Apple laptops and iOS devices where users can record or view the live 4K (4x1080p) content in three ways:

Perspective Mode – Allows users to move their iOS device in any direction to explore 360-video content as it is being shot. As the iOS device moves, the camera feed moves with it.

Panoramic Mode -- Pan and zoom across all four video feeds stitched together into a panorama.

Headset Mode -- Experience live 360º content on VR headsets.

For remote viewing, the Sphere app can be used to live stream to any compatible 360-degree online video platform, including Wowza and YouTube.