RICOH THETA Dream and Build Contest

Join the “Dream and Build” Plug-in Developer Contest to take a RICOH THETA Z1 / THETA V 360 degree camera and customize it!

The contest has ended! Thanks to everyone for their participation. For more information on prize winners AND others who successfully submitted their plug-in, see https://dream.theta360.guide/

The RICOH THETA V is an Android-based camera with an open architecture that allows building your own programs and installing them in the camera to completely customize functionality. Companies in a wide range of industries like Construction, Real Estate, Used Car Sales, Virtual Tours/Tourism and many more have based their products and services on customized THETAs.

Win cool Prizes like an HTC - VIVE Pro Headset, a DJI Quadcopter drone, an Android tablet, and lots more!

And when you submit your idea, win a cool Badge showing off your work with THETA community.theta360.guide. Rarer badges available when you submit your plug-in and when you're one of the winners.

This contest is most appropriate for Android developers who have a RICOH THETA Z1 / THETA V camera.

So... get a chance to use a fantastically fun and useful 360 degree camera, Improve Your Skills, win prizes, and most importantly have a lot of fun!

Where to Start?

If you have a THETA, but you're not sure what to build, ask us! We have Starting Points and suggestions that may help.

If you want to do some Android image manipulation programming (we supply a 360 degree image, you code some simple functionality without having the camera) we can get you started there, too.

Join the RICOH THETA Plug-in Partner Program

You will be developing an Android app, called a plug-in, for your RICOH THETA. The first step in the process is registering for the RICOH THETA Plug-in Partner Program and sending in the serial number on the bottom of your THETA. Registration is free.

When you submit your plug-in for the contest, you will submit it through the RICOH THETA Plug-in Partner Program.

Important Note on Timing

The contest requires your plug-in appear in the THETA Plug-in Store by July 23rd. To get there, RICOH engineers will check the apk that you submit.

You should plan to submit to the Store by June 11. That’s approximately 6 weeks before the end of the contest, to make sure you don't run out of time.

The Hardware

The RICOH THETA V is the world’s best-selling 360 degree camera. It is an Android based OS with an open architecture that allows excellent access to extremely high quality specialized hardware.

• 14MP 360 degree images, 5376 × 2688 resolution
• 4K/30fps 360° video recording and in-camera stitching
• Record 360 spatial audio with 4 internal mics
• 4K/30fps 360° live streaming
• Programmable open architecture (“Plug-ins”)

• Number of Lenses: 2 x F2.0
• Video Resolution: 4K 3840×1920 @ 29.97fps/56Mbps - 2K 1920×960 @ 29.97fps/16Mbps
• Image Resolution: 14 MP 5376×2688
• 360 Live-Stream: 4K, 3840×1920 @ 29.97fps/120Mbps - 2K, 1920×960 @ 29.97fps/42Mbps
• Internal Memory: 19GB
• Audio: 4 internal Microphones Optional 4 channel Mic attachment for 360 audio
• Data Formats
• Images: JPEG (Exif Ver2.3)
• Videos: MP4 (Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, Audio: AAC-LC (mono) + Linear PCM (4ch spatial audio))
• Live streaming: (Video: H.264, Audio: AAC-LC (mono))

Note on connecting THETA to other devices

THETA can be attached to feature-specific devices like a GPS module using an OTG cable connector. However, for the purposes of this Dream and Build THETA contest, the Android-based plug-in architecture of the RICOH THETA does not give a way to set permissions using USB data transfer without interaction on a screen. For a developer, this is not an issue, as tools like Vysor can be used. However, the goal of the contest is to create a functioning plug-in that an end user can download and install without setting any permissions. Since this is not possible, please be sure to implement your ideas a different way.

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The contest has ended! Thanks to everyone for their participation. For more information on prize winners AND others who successfully submitted their plug-in, see https://dream.theta360.guide/

Prizes

Most Innovative

1st Place

1 winner

HTC - VIVE Pro Headset (HMD Only)

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$799 value

2nd Place

1 winner

DJI - Mavic Air Quadcopter with Remote Controller - Onyx Black

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$799 value

3rd Place

1 winner

Amazon Gift Card

-

$500 value

Most Practical

1st Place

1 winner

THETA Action Accessories Pack

-

$614 value

3D Microphone TA-1, Underwater Housing TW-1 with 30 meters of waterproofing, Theta Stand TM-1 stowed 53.5 cm, extended 150 cm, Theta Extension TE-1

2nd Place

1 winner

Raspberry Pi Learning Pack

-

$239 value

Raspberry Pi Media Center Kit - Includes Pi Model 3 B+ and Raspberry Pi Foundation Starter Kit with Pi 3 (Link shows only this kit)

3rd Place

1 winner

Amazon Gift Card

-

$200 value

Most Inspiring

1st Place

1 winner

Google Pixel Slate 8th Gen Intel® Core™ m3 Processor 8GB RAM 64GB Storage

-

$799 value

2nd Place

1 winner

Ricoh GR II Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)

-

$496 value

3rd Place

1 winner

Oculus Go - 64GB Stand-Alone Virtual Reality Headset plus Case - Black

-

$250 value

Judge’s Freestyle Favorite (fun, silly, unexpected, nice try, or other)

1st Place

1 winner

Amazon Gift Card

-

$350 value

2nd Place

1 winner

Amazon Gift Card

-

$250 value

3rd Place

1 winner

Amazon Gift Card

-

$250 value

Judges

Resources