Canon is the only essential camera brand at CES 2022, giving it a huge opportunity to surprise us with its vision of the future of photography. Instead, the camera giant has embarked on an infrequent dive into Moonshot's ideas that, while laudable, are practically probably too out of its comfort zone to be successful.
Canon's two big ideas at the electronics show are its AMLOS system, a gesture-based software platform for video conferencing, and Kokomo, a virtual reality social platform for "immersive" video calls. Both are attempts to reinvent your cameras as essential tools for our new, socially distant age. But these are also scary stretches for a conservative company that isn't known for its software innovation.
Antes de tomarlos demasiado en serio, ¿no son AMLOS y Kokomo solo dulces ideales ligeros para el festival con visión de futuro que es CES 2022? That's true to some extent - CES has increasingly become a playground for brands to scoff at ideas that give them a halo of innovation, and Canon has certainly gotten in on the spirit. cosas.
But the ambition of its 2 concepts also points to the rough waters the camera industry finds itself in. Smartphones have brought camera sales back to their movie niche, which is to say that camera announcements at CES have gotten outrageously weird. So what's a senior statesman like Canon doing in a sea of startups and vaporware? You could, like Sony, chat about each and every way it plans to assist authors in 2022, but instead Canon has drifted into the woods of virtual reality and a new video calling platform for Microsoft Teams.
New insights
To be fair, Canon's AMLOS system is, in theory, a useful new tool for certain video calls. First announced at CES XNUMX, the software (whose name stands for 'Activate My Line of Sight') can give attendees multiple views of the same meeting from a single camera, thanks to its auto-crop powers. It also allows a communicator to use hand gestures to, for example, quickly take screenshots of a whiteboard.
The funny part is the automatic processing that AMLOS does to create these views and screen traps. At the Canon CES 2022 demo, the software pulled a front view of a slate that was placed at an awkward angle to the camera, cropping and processing the live stream. An open palm wave in front of the Canon EOS R5 also perfectly captured a photo from the camera.
But certain restrictions mean that AMLOS, which Canon says will be available "in the first half of 2022," is likely to remain a niche innovation. First of all, while the software works with any kind of camera, Canon recommends one of their PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) models like the Canon CRN XNUMX or CRN XNUMX for the best experience. These cost €XNUMX / €XNUMX / AU €XNUMX / €XNUMX / €XNUMX / AU €XNUMX nine, respectively.
Also, for the majority of most people's video conferencing, the whiteboard featured in Canon's demos has been replaced by cloud documents, which are simple to view in video conferencing without an expensive camera.
virtual madness
Related obstacles are also likely to limit Canon's even more ambitious Kokomo software. This will supposedly let you meet friends and family over virtual reality video calls in places like Malibu, New York, or Hawaii. The wrong side? It will require a compatible Canon camera, VR headset and compatible smartphone, and it is unclear which models will include or when the software will arrive.
VR video calling is something that very few people have asked for (after all, many of us are reluctant to even update our laptop's webcam), and Kokomo was slightly overshadowed by PSVR's announcement two at CES. 2022.
In addition, Canon's disclaimer regarding Kokomo, which states that "there can be no assurance that this software, in its present form or in any other form, will be free for sale or use by users. EU or anywhere else, "doesn't exactly inspire confidence that it will continue to exist for CES XNUMX.
In fact, Kokomo is surely a promotional tool to showcase Canon's new dual fisheye lens, which it announced in October 2022. The Canon RF 5.2mm f / 2.8L Dual Fisheye is the first lens on the planet for digital cameras with lenses. interchangeable that you can shoot. One hundred and eighty degree VR video was used to record Kokomo's tropical backgrounds. It would also have made a much better CES 2022 overhead announcement, if the release schedules had been aligned.
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Ultimately, the future of VR video is still wildly doubtful, given VR's inability to break into the mainstream. And while Canon has naturally entered the world of video calling at work, it is still unclear what these pandemic trends are in the long run.
On the site of a VR-based moonshot, couldn't Canon create a photo-based app like Glass to provide a home for those escaping Instagram? Or why not create a next-gen companion app for your cameras that outperforms the average competition? Innovations in computer photography, live streaming or camera accessories would also have been great fodder for CES 2022.
Instead, Canon's announcements at CES 2022 show that the camera giant has truly given up on attracting core new audiences to its photography territory. Its true novelties, such as Eye Control AF or its SPAD sensor, are reserved for professional cameras, and now it is looking for new spaces for the huge public to raise its image banner. It remains to be seen if these include VR video calling and Microsoft Teams software.