Professional Photographer Creates ConditionOne, A 180-Degree Video Player For iPad, iPhone

Danfung Dennis is a war photographer.

He’s covered the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was nominated for a 2012 Academy Award for his documentary, “Hell And Back Again”. But he’s ready to tackle a new space: technology. His company, ConditionOne, has created a video player for the iPad and iPhone that offers a full 180 degree view, allowing the user to pan or tilt the device to look around inside the video.

So you open up the player, either through the C1 app or inside a branded application, and calibrate by pressing a little cross hair button that pops up. After setting your positioning, you can move the iPad around in front of you (similar to how you would with an AR app) and look around 180 degrees while the video is playing.

Brands are able to use an API to bake the viewer right into their own app, or market their content as a stand-alone product.

Brands and media companies can license the software from C1 to distribute content through the ConditionOne player, and then create real-life experiences for their users and consumers. The key here is that the C1 player doesn’t require any new camera hardware or interrupt the usual work flow of photographer or filmmaker, making it an attractive avenue for brands. A number of companies have signed on to joint the ConditionOne pilot program, including Mercedes, Discovery Communications, XL Recordings, The Guardian, and Popular Science.

In fact, Popular Science has just released a ConditionOne-equipped app that takes you through the ATLAS Large Hadron Collider.

We’ve also learned that Mark Cuban has invested $500,000 in the startup.

Check out all of the cool stuff that came out of TechStars NYC Demo Day here.