Gamecaster Develops Virtual Camera

San Diego, Calif., technology firm GameCaster has introduced the second-generation of its “Cybercam” technology, a device designed specifically for television coverage of video game “tournaments,” or multi-player video game events.

The “Cybercam” looks like a broadcast camera but actually interfaces with a gaming system to produce virtual footage of the computer-generated action inside a video game.

The device allows production staffers to pan and zoom through the virtual world of a video game as a broadcast cameraman would with a professional video camera. A monitor shows the computer-generated imagery that results much like a live video picture on a broadcast sports camera.

Gamecaster hopes to license the Cybercam technology to production companies, advertisers, and video game developers, all of whom are increasingly creating video coverage of game tournaments.