Have you heard? Zoom meeting is all the rage now. But not by choice and sadly, virtual classes, online meetings and events, will be a norm in future. Understanding this, action camera maker GoPro thinks that its newest action camera may be able to serve as a 1080p, wide-angle webcam.
This actually makes sense, since ‘action’ are pretty much limited now; It has since have been replaced with staring at the four walls, all day and night. Anywho, if you have a GoPro HERO8, you can update with a beta-release of the new firmware and install the new GoPro Webcam desktop utility to start using it as a webcam.
As of July 10, GoPro Webcam desktop utility is available to macOS users. Windows support is currently in the works.
Here is an overview of the steps to turn your HERO8 into a trusty webcam:
- Install the beta camera firmware onto your HERO8 Black.
- Install the new GoPro Webcam desktop utility onto your computer.
- Plug your HERO8 Black into your computer with any USB-C cable (the one that came with your GoPro, for example).
- Once logged into a compatible video conference application, simply choose GoPro from the list of available camera sources and you’re good to go!
With the beta firmware update, HERO8 webcam will be compatible a variety of apps, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Discord and BlueJeans as well as Webex, Skype, Facebook Rooms, Facebook Messenger and Slack when accessed via a Google Chrome Browser on macOS. HERO8 can also be used to live stream to YouTube too, but I think most of us already know that.
Images: GoPro.