Filmmaker Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson, founder of Arctic Images, and drone pilot Arnar Þór Þórsson were commissioned by The Perlan Museum, host of a state-of-the-art 8K planetarium and other exhibitions focused on Iceland, to fly an 8K-capable 360 camera over the erupting volcano to capture an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience.
The Mt. Fagradalsfjall volcano in Geldingadalur, Iceland, erupted for the first time in 800 years on March 19th, 2021, and has continued to spout new fissures over the past few weeks. As a result, several artists have flocked to the site to capture different views and perspectives of the eruption.
The majesty of the eruption has been shot many times from the sky with numerous thrilling experiences, such as a drone that nearly melted from coming too close to the mouth of the volcano to another drone surviving a direct strike by a flying chunk of lava. However, Sigurðsson and Þór Þórsson are the first to film a remarkable 360-degree 8K aerial video of the eruption that is designed to be viewed in VR.
The footage has been shot on an Insta360 Pro 2 and was released by the Insta 360 team. To have the best experience with the video, you should set your resolution as high as your bandwidth can handle on both desktop or VR headset.
“During the flight, the lava reached temperatures as high as 1240°C degrees (2264°F), but the camera sustained the journey, delivering these epic shots,” the company stated through its blog. “Camera weight and image quality are two common limiting factors for shooting VR drone videos. Insta360 Pro 2’s lightweight form factor, weighing just 1.5kg, enabled the drone pilot to fly smoothly without the drone being weighed down by the camera.”
Insta360 also said that Sigurðsson’s expertise with the camera had as much to do with the quality of the footage as the capabilities of their product.
“A native Icelander and professional photographer for over 30 years, Ragnar’s images have been featured in publications such as the New York Times, National Geographic, Times, Nature, and Newsweek,” Insta360 noted. “Now with VR technology, Ragnar and other photographers can deliver deeply immersive experiences of the Earth’s wonders to audiences around the world.”
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