Rylo – A 360 degree camera with an extraordinary concept

Founded by former Instagram and Apple employees, a new startup called Rylo is looking to break into the market with a new 360-degree compact camera powered by some rather innovative software that lets you edit cinematic-quality video on the go.

Utilizing two 208-degree wide-angle lenses, Rylo shoots 4K at 30 fps in full 360-degree coverage. Though when you opt for a traditional video window instead of a 360-degree experience, your resolution will be 1080p. The lenses are actually built by the creators themselves and have a f/2.8 fixed aperture. They’re the equivalent of a 7mm lens on a 35mm camera.

Video shot with a standard camera can only be leveled and stabilized by cropping and rotating the footage, which can result in a significant softening of the image. When it comes to stabilization and leveling, 360 video makes a lot of sense, there is really no “correct” camera orientation, anything can be up, down, left, or right. You can rotate the video in post to your heart’s content, and the number of on-screen pixels will always remain the same. And thanks to an onboard gyroscope, the Rylo can handle stabilization and leveling automatically in real time.

When Rylo shoots video, it captures everything that’s happening around you. The powerful software uses all this content to impressive effect, letting you edit standard-frame videos directly in the mobile app as if you were a director working with shots from multiple camera angles. For example, you can set a person or thing as a point of interest, and the software will automatically keep it in the frame, no matter what you were doing with the camera. You can seamlessly pan from one person or object in the 360-degree video sphere to another person or object. It’s a simple matter of assigning start and end points to various sections of the capture space.

The software looks incredibly easy to use, and the app interface is entirely gesture-based (taps and swipes), and you can instantly share edited videos via Instagram, Facebook and messaging. Video is stored on a 16GB microSD card that comes in the box along with a rechargeable Li-ion battery, charge cable, and protective pouch. The battery is rated for 60 minutes of continuous recording time. The app is currently iOS-only, the Android version will appear soon. The 360-degree camera costs $499 and can be ordered on the official website.