Canon Introduces Kokomo, a Social VR Platform That Uses its Cameras

Canon has announced that it is developing a virtual reality (VR) software platform that it is calling Kokomo. It is designed with the intention of changing human communication by combining VR with "immersive" Canon camera-powered video calls.

Kokomo is described by Canon as an "innovative" software solution that will provide users with a way to meet friends and family "virtually in-person" by using a compatible Canon camera, a VR headset, and a compatible smartphone.

"Kokomo will allow users to see and hear one another in real-time with their live appearance and expression, in a photo-real environment, while experiencing a premium virtual reality setting in captivating locations like Malibu, New York, or Hawaii," Canon explains.

Canon says that the app will use Canon cameras and its imaging technology to create realistic representations of its users so it feels as though users are speaking face to face rather than on-screen or through avatars (although technically, even if it is a photo-realistic digital recreation of a person, it is still technically an avatar). Canon calls what it is creating the Real "Together" Experience.

“With Kokomo we’re tapping into Canon’s innovative spirit and heritage of high-quality imaging to enable people to have real, authentic interactions when they get together in VR. Every ImmersiveCall should be a memorable experience,” Kazuto "Kevin" Ogawa, president and CEO, Canon U.S.A., Inc., says. “Kokomo will enable people to create memorable, meaningful connections.”

Kokomo is currently being demonstrated at CES using the Canon RF5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye lens. The company says that Kokomo is slated to be available in 2022 and it plans to add new destinations, functionalities, and features to the Kokomo app, along with expanded compatibility with Canon cameras.

Canon did not specify which cameras, smartphones, and lenses would be considered "compatible" with the Kokomo system, however, it is highly likely that at least the EOS R5 and the aforementioned RF5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye lens will be among the Canon products that will work with the VR system. Since it is still in development, Canon also has not provided any information about how the software will be monetized, either through a one-time or subscription-based system. If it is anything like the software needed to operate the new dual fisheye lens, however, a subscription model seems likely.

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Canon’s Experimental PowerShot PX Gets International Release

Canon's experimental PowerShot PICK that was originally launched as a crowdfunding campaign in Japan appears to be getting an international rollout. Renamed the PowerShot PX, the camera is at the very least coming to Europe.

The pitch for the PowerShot PX is relatively straightforward: Canon believes that a great many people want to capture everyday moments but don't want to take themselves out of those moments in order to photograph them. To that end, the PowerShot PX slots in nicely.

It's an artificial intelligence-driven tiny point and shoot that is capable of recognizing a scene, following the action, and automatically capturing photos. Canon believes that the camera has enough smarts to be fully trusted to handle snapshot duties which lets families focus on the tasks at hand without fearing that anything worth remembering will be missed thanks to built-in subject recognition that can be told to prioritize certain faces.

The best photos aren’t always the posed smiles, although they’re always popular. The PowerShot PX captures a huge range of looks and precious reactions that you might not capture.

The camera has an internal battery that charges via USB-C and connects to Wi-Fi networks so that the photos it takes can be automatically delivered to a smartphone app. It can also connect directly to smartphones via Bluetooth. In addition to just trusting the PX to know when to take a photo, it can also be specifically commanded using voice commands, of which it supports four.

Hardware-wise, the PowerShot PX captures 11.7-megapixel photos and Full HD 1080p video at up to 60 frames per second. The head of the camera can pan 340-degrees and tilt 110-degrees with a 19-57mm equivalent zoom lens that the AI can use to automatically frame photos on its own.

Below are a few sample images captured with the PX, and while they aren't what many would consider to be "Earth-shattering" in quality, they are about on par with what can be expected from many smartphones with the added benefit that the camera presumably shot the images without any human intervention.

The PowerShot PX will come to Europe and the United Kingdom in November and will retail for £500 or €500, which is about $585. No information about release in North America was available at the time of publication.

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This is What Footage from Canon’s 5.2mm Dual Fisheye Lens Looks Like

Canon has shared video captured with its unique virtual reality RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L Dual Fisheye lens. The 4K footage allows for inspection of quality as well as showcases the ability to "look around" and interact with the scene.

Canon's RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L Dual Fisheye Lens is described as the company's first lens in the EOS VR System, which indicates that the company plans to make more lenses and devices to support the creation of virtual reality content. The design of the lens is rather unique in that it doesn't require specialized camera capture hardware and is compatible with a Canon single-sensor interchangeable lens camera body -- in this case, specifically the Canon EOS R5.

Canon says that the EOS VR System’s workflow is particularly impressive and because it can record left and right fisheye images to a single full-frame image sensor and therefore bypasses the common challenges of stitching and synching since the footage is output to a single image file. That single file can be interpolated using Canon software. Either the standalone EOS VR Utility software or a plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro will be made available via a subscription.

The lenses are capable of shooting with a 190-degree field of view captured from two separate optical systems, which Canon says is perfect for finishing 180-degree VR footage.

The footage above shows what can be expected from the enhanced field of view and also shows that Canon has already completed at least a beta version of the upcoming software. The footage also shows that Canon made good on its promise that its system has no seams, unlike the more common multi-sensor VR cameras on the market.

Without seeing the original exported file, it's difficult to tell if the visual artifacts in the footage are caused by something either with Canon's software or if they are due to YouTube compression. The sharpness and clarity of the footage does not appear to be consistent with the quality of footage captured with the R5 that Canon itself has shared in the past. VR footage may be the subject of even greater compression on YouTube's part.

The Canon RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L Dual Fisheye lens is scheduled to be available in late December 2021 for $1,999 and both of Canon’s EOS VR Software solutions should be available around the same time, although the company has not revealed how much customers will be expected to pay for the subscription service.

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Canon to Release an RF 5.2mm f/2.8 VR Lens: Report

Canon will reportedly soon release a dual 5.2mm f/2.8 L fisheye lens designed for the creation of virtual reality content.

The original report by Nokishita stated that a 5.2mm f/2.8 lens would be Canon's next RF addition, which was met with excitement and confusion, as the usability of a lens that wide was not immediately clear.

キヤノンが次に発表するRFレンズは5.2mm F2.8 Lになるらしい。キヤノンの最新アクセサリリストで未発表のレンズキャップ5.2は確認。#噂

-- 軒下デジカメ情報局 (@nokishita_c) October 1, 2021

The tweet above reads, translated, "The next RF lens that Canon will announce will be 5.2mm F2.8 L. Check out the unreleased lens cap 5.2 on Canon's latest accessory list."

Nokishita would later report that the official name of the product would be the "RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye" and that it would be for virtual reality (VR).

Some outlets postulated that the lens could be part of a dual-lens stereoscopic system that Canon has patented at least two separate times: one in September of 2020 -- as noted by Canon News -- and another more recently in April of 2021 -- referenced by Asibonet. Both patents describe a stereoscopic optical imaging system that pair two wide-angle lenses together that then converge into a single barrel that connects to a mirrorless camera -- likely an RF camera body.

Stereoscopy is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image using binocular lenses. A stereoscopic system would place two identical lenses a fixed distance apart -- close to the distance between human eyes -- and record footage simultaneously.

The idea behind this design is that VR footage captured with a single lens system is not as easy for a viewer using a headset to enjoy because, without a stereoscopic effect, it can become tiring or unpleasant to watch for long periods of time. In the more recent patent application, Canon specifically states that the goal of the design is to make it more "comfortable" for a viewer to enjoy content captured with the lens.

Canon also states that in order to obtain a more natural stereoscopic feeling that is similar to the human eye, the distance between which is on average between 60 and 65mm, it was necessary to make the aperture of the lens mount larger than 60mm, therefore the lens device and the camera are larger. This description is likely the reason that Canon is going with the RF system as it is capable of providing both a large mount and a large sensor.

While the purpose of this lens seems niche, the branding of it as an L-series lens makes it seem as though it will be more widely available than something more experimental or even more industrial in application like Canon's $38,400 mixed reality headset. Whatever the case, if this report is true, Canon will certainly clarify more when the lens is officially released.

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