360 Camera with GPS and Heading Metadata for Spatial Object Localization

[dangomezm]

Hello everyone,
I am looking for a 360 camera for a workflow in which objects detected in a 360 image can later be spatially located.

I need a camera that records the camera orientation at capture time, for example yaw/azimuth. I found that the Ricoh THETA X provides PoseHeadingDegrees metadata and also has built-in GPS.

However, I would like to know whether there are other 360 cameras that provide similar metadata and would allow me to determine, for example, whether a building in the image is on the left or right side of the road.

[GITNE]

The Mapillary recommended line of GoPro MAX, MAX 2025, and MAX2 cameras record gyroscopic and compass data at about 10 Hz. However, the data comes as a GoPro proprietary but well documented and machine readable GPMF (but GPMD FourCC) metadata stream. And, although MAX and MAX 2025 do produce Google Pano XMP metadata, all Pose* tags are always 0.0, so reading PoseHeadingDegrees will not do you any good.

Xmp.GPano.UsePanoramaViewer                  XmpText     4  True
Xmp.GPano.CaptureSoftware                    XmpText     9  GoPro Max
Xmp.GPano.StitchingSoftware                  XmpText     9  GoPro Max
Xmp.GPano.ProjectionType                     XmpText    15  equirectangular
Xmp.GPano.PoseHeadingDegrees                 XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.PosePitchDegrees                   XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.PoseRollDegrees                    XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.InitialViewHeadingDegrees          XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.InitialViewPitchDegrees            XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.InitialViewRollDegrees             XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.InitialHorizontalFOVDegrees        XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.InitialVerticalFOVDegrees          XmpText     3  0.0
Xmp.GPano.CroppedAreaLeftPixels              XmpText     1  0
Xmp.GPano.CroppedAreaTopPixels               XmpText     1  0
Xmp.GPano.CroppedAreaImageWidthPixels        XmpText     4  5760
Xmp.GPano.CroppedAreaImageHeightPixels       XmpText     4  2880
Xmp.GPano.FullPanoWidthPixels                XmpText     4  5760
Xmp.GPano.FullPanoHeightPixels               XmpText     4  2880
Xmp.GPano.FirstPhotoDate                     XmpText    19  YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS
Xmp.GPano.LastPhotoDate                      XmpText    19  YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS
Xmp.GPano.SourcePhotosCount                  XmpText     1  2
Xmp.GPano.ExposureLockUsed                   XmpText     5  False
Xmp.GPano.InitialCameraDolly                 XmpText     3  0.0

MAX and MAX 2025 do not write GPSImgDirection either, except like already mentioned, compass data in the GPMF stream.

I do not know whether MAX2 has been improved in this regard. Perhaps @TheWizard can share some insight?

[TheWizard]

This is the output of the Max 2 (a CineForm output of the original 360):

[ExifTool] ExifToolVersion : 13.54
[System] FileName : GS020595.mov
[System] Directory : .
[System] FileSize : 2.1 GB
[System] FileModifyDate : 2026:04:10 18:41:39+02:00
[System] FileAccessDate : 2026:04:10 22:11:59+02:00
[System] FileCreateDate : 2026:04:10 22:11:56+02:00
[System] FilePermissions : -rw-rw-rw-
[File] FileType : MP4
[File] FileTypeExtension : mp4
[File] MIMEType : video/mp4
[QuickTime] MajorBrand : MP4 v2 [ISO 14496-14]
[QuickTime] MinorVersion : 0.0.0
[QuickTime] CompatibleBrands : mp41, isom
[QuickTime] MediaDataSize : 2136056524
[QuickTime] MediaDataOffset : 72
[QuickTime] MovieHeaderVersion : 0
[QuickTime] CreateDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[QuickTime] ModifyDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[QuickTime] TimeScale : 48000
[QuickTime] Duration : 17.54 s
[QuickTime] PreferredRate : 1
[QuickTime] PreferredVolume : 100.00%
[QuickTime] MatrixStructure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
[QuickTime] PreviewTime : 0 s
[QuickTime] PreviewDuration : 0 s
[QuickTime] PosterTime : 0 s
[QuickTime] SelectionTime : 0 s
[QuickTime] SelectionDuration : 0 s
[QuickTime] CurrentTime : 0 s
[QuickTime] NextTrackID : 3
[QuickTime] HandlerType : Metadata
[Track1] TrackHeaderVersion : 0
[Track1] TrackCreateDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track1] TrackModifyDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track1] TrackID : 1
[Track1] TrackDuration : 16.92 s
[Track1] TrackLayer : 0
[Track1] TrackVolume : 0.00%
[Track1] MatrixStructure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
[Track1] ImageWidth : 7680
[Track1] ImageHeight : 3840
[Track1] MediaHeaderVersion : 0
[Track1] MediaCreateDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track1] MediaModifyDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track1] MediaTimeScale : 25000
[Track1] MediaDuration : 16.92 s
[Track1] MediaLanguageCode : und
[Track1] HandlerType : Video Track
[Track1] HandlerDescription : VideoHandler
[Track1] GraphicsMode : srcCopy
[Track1] OpColor : 0 0 0
[Track1] CompressorID : CFHD
[Track1] VendorID : Unknown (gpro)
[Track1] SourceImageWidth : 7680
[Track1] SourceImageHeight : 3840
[Track1] XResolution : 72
[Track1] YResolution : 72
[Track1] CompressorName : CineForm HD
[Track1] BitDepth : 24
[Track1] VideoFrameRate : 25
[Track1] TimecodeTrack : 3
[XMP-GSpherical] Spherical : true
[XMP-GSpherical] Stitched : true
[XMP-GSpherical] StitchingSoftware : Spherical Metadata Tool
[XMP-GSpherical] ProjectionType : equirectangular
[Track2] TrackHeaderVersion : 0
[Track2] TrackCreateDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track2] TrackModifyDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track2] TrackID : 2
[Track2] TrackDuration : 17.54 s
[Track2] TrackLayer : 0
[Track2] TrackVolume : 100.00%
[Track2] MatrixStructure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
[Track2] MediaHeaderVersion : 0
[Track2] MediaCreateDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track2] MediaModifyDate : 2026:04:10 16:41:28
[Track2] MediaTimeScale : 48000
[Track2] MediaDuration : 17.54 s
[Track2] MediaLanguageCode : und
[Track2] HandlerType : Audio Track
[Track2] HandlerDescription : SoundHandler
[Track2] Balance : 0
[Track2] AudioFormat : mp4a
[Track2] AudioChannels : 2
[Track2] AudioBitsPerSample : 24
[Track2] AudioSampleRate : 48000
[Track2] TimecodeTrack : 3
[Track3] TrackHeaderVersion : 0
[Track3] TrackCreateDate : 2026:04:10 07:03:20
[Track3] TrackModifyDate : 2026:04:10 07:03:20
[Track3] TrackID : 3
[Track3] TrackDuration : 0:00:33
[Track3] TrackLayer : 0
[Track3] TrackVolume : 0.00%
[Track3] MatrixStructure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
[Track3] MediaHeaderVersion : 0
[Track3] MediaCreateDate : 2026:04:10 07:03:20
[Track3] MediaModifyDate : 2026:04:10 07:03:20
[Track3] MediaTimeScale : 25000
[Track3] MediaDuration : 16.92 s
[Track3] HandlerClass : Media Handler
[Track3] HandlerType : Time Code
[Track3] HandlerDescription : GoPro TCD
[Track3] GenMediaVersion : 0
[Track3] GenFlags : 0 0 0
[Track3] GenGraphicsMode : ditherCopy
[Track3] GenOpColor : 32768 32768 32768
[Track3] GenBalance : 0
[Track3] TextFont : Unknown (21)
[Track3] TextFace : Plain
[Track3] TextSize : 10
[Track3] TextColor : 0 0 0
[Track3] BackgroundColor : 65535 65535 65535
[Track3] FontName : Helvetica
[Track3] OtherFormat : tmcd
[Track3] PlaybackFrameRate : 25
[Composite] ImageSize : 7680x3840
[Composite] Megapixels : 29.5
[Composite] AvgBitrate : 974 Mbps
[Composite] Rotation : 0