Four hours and $30,000 for Facebook Surround 360 camera

At its annual F8 developer conference this year, Facebook had introduced its latest piece of hardware: the Facebook Surround 360 camera saying that it won’t sell the camera and would open source it instead. Well, the device that will capture footage and then render it online via web-based software created especially for it is finally here.

One can now visit GitHub to learn how to build the camera, install its software and obviously tug both the hardware and software to meet one’s needs.

The camera is designed to be modified and tinkered with, says Brian Cabral, a Facebook engineering director who led the development of the Surround 360 at the company's Menlo Park headquarters. "There will be people who will try different configurations, trying to make it smaller, cheaper, lighter," he says. "Some people will go up, marking it bigger in resolution. That’s not only okay but encouraged."

Reminder- This isn't exactly a homebrew project -- you'll need about $30,000 in parts to build the official version. It's more for video pros that want to produce 360-degree content without having to turn to pricier, pre-packaged offerings like Nokia's Ozo. Still, it's worth exploring the source if you want to either see how Facebook's VR cam works or design a lower-cost alternative.