Zeiss Thinks Virtual Reality and Drones Are a Match Made in Heaven

What will convince consumers to buy a virtual reality headset? Is it video games? Movies? Porn?

Carl Zeiss AG has a new answer: Drones!

A new partnership between Zeiss and drone maker DJI lets drone owners (droners?) see what their flying contraptions see by slipping into a VR app. The app displays a live video feed from a 4K DJI-made camera suspended below the chassis of a Phantom 2, Phantom 3 or Inspire 1.

“People needed that one legitimate reason to purchase a VR headset,” said Dave Hodgson, the North American sales boss for Zeiss partner Total3DSolutions. “They’re looking for that one really serious app.”

The CloudlightFPV app, which costs $10 on iOS, is designed with Zeiss’ own VR headset, the $130 VR One, in mind — the dual images are warped to match the optics company’s custom lenses. However, since the VR One is part of the Google Cardboard ecosystem and doesn’t actually talk to the phone, the same app will work in any Cardboard headset; one of the options in the settings turns off the VR One-ready warping.

Hodgson said the app will be especially useful for drone photographers who want to line up a perfect shot but have trouble seeing the screen displaying the camera’s viewpoint while outdoors.

I got a brief demo of the tech integration recently at Re/code’s office. The iPhone 6 was plugged directly into the controller of a DJI Inspire One and then slotted into a VR One headset.

Once inside the headset, I was able to see a live video feed of what the drone camera saw. When I turned my head, it moved accordingly to point in the appropriate direction. However, there was a noticeable lag between when I turned and when the picture updated (less than a second, Hodgson said) that I suspect may churn some stomachs.

An Android version of the app is in the works. Zeiss’ software partners are also developing similar apps for drones made by 3DR and Yuneec.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

We're here to shed some clarity

One of our core beliefs here at Vox is that everyone needs and deserves access to the information that helps them understand the world, regardless of whether they can pay for a subscription. With the 2024 election on the horizon, more people are turning to us for clear and balanced explanations of the issues and policies at stake. We’re so grateful that we’re on track to hit 85,000 contributions to the Vox Contributions program before the end of the year, which in turn helps us keep this work free. We need to add 2,500 contributions this month to hit that goal. Will you make a contribution today to help us hit this goal and support our policy coverage? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via