Cycloramic was created in December 2012 by Bruno Francois and Egos Ventures. After enormous success, changes in the iPhone design in 2014 made Cycloramic difficult to use. In 2015, Francois pivoted to scanning images of automobiles to create interactive 360-degree AR experiences to entice car buyers online. His new venture, Car360 was later sold to Caravan for $22 million.
Cycloramic is an iOS and Windows Phone application that makes the Apple iPhone and Compatible Windows Phones rotate 360 degrees without user intervention. It switches the phone’s vibrator at a specific (undisclosed) frequency to make the phone spin around its vertical axis and track the rotation angle using the gyroscope, compass and accelerometer while taking panoramic images.
Another feature of this program is the ability to post process panoramic images into 24-second videos for other uses. The update introduced on June 22, 2013 added features to store, edit and share the panoramic pictures.
Cycloramic was created in December 2012 by a start-up called “Egos Ventures” which is part of the Advanced Technology Development Center located at Tech Square, near Georgia Tech.
Cycloramic received a “Pogie Award for the Brightest Ideas of 2012” from David Pogue, personal technology columnist for The New York Times . The app also triggered the interest of other influential tech journalists witnessing the iPhone “dance”. Steve Wozniak filmed himself using the app judging it “unexpected, fanciful and useful at the same time”. The application was downloaded 100,000 times in 7 days when it launched in December 2012. Egos Ventures has since been selected as one of the Top 10 Innovative Companies in Georgia[8] and presented Cycloramic at the 2013 Georgia Technology Summit (GTS) on March 20, 2013.
The initial (1.0) version of Cycloramic generated panoramic videos, rather than pictures. The 2.0 version later introduced a photo mode allowing users to take panoramic photos in addition to videos. Users can choose to convert their panoramic photos into 24-second movies since the 2.1 version. The version 3.0 update added an in-app photo library with editing features. The editing allowed for modification to the original 14 images that created the panorama individually. This version also allowed images (panorama or individual) to be shared via social media. Usage requires a mount bought separately.
