It’s no secret that Samsung is trying to push its virtual reality technology into as many homes as possible, with the Gear VR being its first foray into the resurging technology.

Even if you have a VR headset, you might not have content for it, but this is where Samsung’s newly-developed 3D camera comes in. Called Project Beyond, the camera captures 3D video and images in a 360-degree field – and can even stream it.

“Project Beyond is not a product, but one of our many exciting projects currently under development. This is the first operational version of the device, and just a taste of what the final system we are working on will be capable of,” Samsung explained.

With its streaming capabilities, Samsung hopes to deliver content of events and places that people want to discover, and can do so through the 3D imagery onto the Gear VR.

“Although we won’t have the camera for sale immediately, the content generated from Project Beyond will be available to every Gear VR user immediately. This way, you will not have to wait to teleport around the world with your Gear VR.”

The technical details have not be revealed yet, but the entire camera makes use of 16 tiny, two-pair lenses that capture images in 45-degree angles, with every third camera angled in the same direction. This creates an overlapping of captured data, making it easier to stitch together.

“We use stereoscopic interleaved capture and 3D-aware stitching technology to capture the scene just like the human eye, but in a form factor that is extremely compact,” Samsung added.

[Image – Samsung]