Make no mistake, 2016 was a tough year for GoPro. I spoke with the company’s founder and CEO, Nick Woodman, about the challenges recalling Karma caused, how the company hopes to come back from that, and future plans for 2017. Woodman wasn’t shy about admitting the whole recall was “embarrassing.” But he’s optimistic that there’s still a place for Karma. The company is determined not just to put it back on the market, but make it more competitive that before with new features and updates — potentially as soon as its relaunch (likely in February).
Beyond Karma, Woodman spoke about his plans for VR video. People are already using GoPro’s to make 360 content, so unsurprisingly his focus is on making those videos easier to share. Woodman’s vision is a future where you record your activities with one, multi-lensed GoPro, creating a spherical video. You’d then simply watch that back on a phone. As you move the phone around, your motion would be tracked, and the app would spit out a matching, 2D video for sharing. “With VR, 360 video will be the ultimate GoPro” said Woodman. “And If I’m saying we’re calling this the ultimate, ultimate GoPro, you can imagine our focus and dedication on it.”
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