Ever wished you could live stream your antics direct from a GoPro camera to the Internet? Now you can, thanks to Twitter’s live video service Periscope. And if you want to see what it looks like, the two companies have recruited BMX star Simone Barraco to show off his skills live from Barcelona this afternoon (you can tune in from 3pm GMT).
Periscope has been around for nearly a year now, and has already proven effective at streaming globally significant events like the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. But this latest tie-in with GoPro could help it make a dent in the action sports market, bringing unedited live footage to Periscope’s 10m user base.
Pablo Jablonski, an engineer at Periscope, said: "As a skier myself, I've always loved extreme sports, and I love how GoPro can show us all of the crazy things these athletes can do. As an iOS engineer on Periscope, bringing these two technologies together has been a the fulfilment of a longtime personal wish.”
Battery concerns
The service is compatible with GoPro’s HERO4 Black or Silver cameras at launch, and enables athletes to toggle between broadcasting from their iPhone’s camera to their GoPro directly from the phone screen. The GoPro camera connects to your iPhone via Wi-Fi, and will still record locally on a micro SD card even while broadcasting through Periscope.
Related: GoPro Hero4 Silver action camera review
How long the camera battery will last for live streaming remains to be seen – rather than broadcasting the HERO4’s full 4K resolution, it streams in 720p HD at 30 frames per second, but that is still likely to drain the battery quickly.
Other limitations
The broadcast functionality is only available on iPhone 5S and above at launch, but Periscope users will be able to view GoPro broadcasts from any platform, including desktop and Android.
Despite these quibbles though, we’re excited at the possibilities this GoPro collaboration brings – it could help create the next action sports stars, and even change the way we treat video at BikeRadar. Livestreamed reviews, anyone?
To check it out, head to GoPro's Periscope channel at 4pm Central European Time today (22 February 2016).