Get a bird’s eye view of Neuschwanstein Castle in southwest Bavaria, Germany.
Amazing 360 degree video of an eagle soaring through the air with Insta 360 Rs camera stuck on the back has over 22K likes Instagram and it continues to gain traction.
Shot by a professional hawk Paul Klima, the video feels like you are attached to the back of an eagle as it flies around Germany’s Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle, which was the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle, located on a nature reserve, which means drones are not allowed on the premises. The only way you could get this kind of movie is to get help from a winged friend.
Klima, who has been hosting foraging workshops for the past 20 years, came up with the idea in 2007 during the production of a nature film for a Bavarian TV show. For that demonstration, the team attached an HD camera to an eagle but unfortunately, the device was a bit heavy for the bird, which shortened its flight time. That said, he managed to get some great photos.
What Klima really wanted to do, however, was give people a way to experience flight from a first-person perspective. The idea stayed with Klima for several years, and when smaller and lighter consumer 360 cameras began to hit the market, Klima saw an opportunity to capture immersive content accessible through a VR headset.
One of Kliman’s biggest challenges was figuring out how to strap a 360 camera to an eagle while still allowing the animal to fly freely without much discomfort. To do this, Klima worked closely with his team and his birds to design a custom harness that was extremely light and would not affect the animal.
His work is important to him, and so are his birds. In a staff member’s profile on the Lowa’s website, Klima talks about his passion as a falconer, saying, “During the summer, I train my birds every day at the Falkenhof in southern Bavaria. The mountains on the banks of the Isar River are the best place for training – good flying conditions, so to speak.”
“Of course, the birds also need their daily care. I often have adventure package customers,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can’t spend all my time wandering around outdoors (even if I wanted to). I still have a lot of office work to do and I have to answer emails. I get my reward when we film my eagle and put the EagleCam to work in the mountains.”
When asked about the types of 360 VR cameras used to capture his footage, Klima notes that Insta360 helped him solve a problem he had struggled with for years. The early HD cameras were heavy and only gave you one view and the first 360 cameras had to be deconstructed to really capture the eagle’s POV. Stabilization was also a common issue.
The Insta360 RS’s Duel 1-inch sensors, drift-state stabilization, 360 sky lock, and durability gave Klima and his team an easy and relatively simple way to record a fun 360-degree POV experience.
To learn more about it Cliodna and his work, check out his website. A visit here to learn more about Insta360 and the Insta360 RS camera. You can watch the video on any VR headset with support for 360-degree YouTube videos.
Image Credit: Insta360
