Popular immersive media platform RICOH360 Tours has announced in a press release the release of a new version of its Theta series of compact cameras, called the Theta X.
Combined with its native app for editing and managing high-resolution video content, the Theta X allows for 360-degree interior images to be captured in a single shot. Tours are finalized when multiple room shots are uploaded and automatically edited together.
The new Theta X camera has an onboard, 2.25-inches color touch screen, the first of its kind in the Theta line. In addition to camera controls and image settings, the screen allows users to preview the scene for final capture. There’s also enhanced 2D and 360-degree image quality and significantly improved zoom capabilities, according to the release.
Image output resolution is equal to 60 megapixels and video quality is improved with image stability and the ability to record at 5.5K (5,500 megapixel horizontal resolution) at 30fps video. Room captures can be transferred to the mobile app via Bluetooth or stored on a removable storage card.
The Theta camera launched as a single, stand-alone model that could offer 360-degree images for use in an array of tour software. It quickly expanded due it its unique form factor and features, eventually spinning into its own brand and an entire line of cameras.
Ricoh Tours’ Business lead, Kay Iwaisako, told Inman in 2018 that their tour software had been in development for years, starting when they realized how popular the impressively small Theta had become within the industry.
“We got feedback from the market showing that they want better software that is specifically built for real estate agents,” Iwaisako said. “So that’s what we did.”
“Since the 2020 rebrand, Ricoh Tours has amassed a vast network of 40,000 users, with 13 million virtual tours in over 100 countries,” the release stated.
The company added virtual staging capabilities to its software in 2021, likely driven by the rapid rise in virtual home presentations.
The Theta X maintains the everyday durability and portability of its predecessors, sporting a sturdy magnesium alloy body not much bigger than a deck of cards.
Digital home tours spiked in popularity due to the need to see homes while most business was being done remotely during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tactic became critical as the housing market sagged at first, then rebounded with historic ferocity.
Whereas 3D tours and video content were considered “nice-to-have” add-ons for sellers, the accessibility of hardware like the Theta X and its ilk, along with easier-to-use mobile software, have made such marketing tactics borderline commonplace, if not expected from buyers at all levels of the market.
The Theta X should no doubt live up to expectations set by its siblings.
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
