Freedom for PTZs: Shotoku debuts Aura with NAB 2026

The world premiere of Aura, a range of solutions that seeks to multiply the creative control options of PTZ cameras, stands as the great attraction of the imminent presence of Shotoku in NAB 2026 (April 19-22).

Shotoku has proposed to respond to the lack of a “sophisticated and scalable” control system for PTZ in broadcast and corporate environments with Aura, a “powerful and optimized platform” created for professional PTZ productions. Your first solution will be the control system TR-XPTZ, which is based on the TR-XT control architecture to provide “fluidity, reliability and multi-camera sophistication” to those corporations that opt for this type of camera.

Aura, which will take its first steps at NAB 2026, promises a level of control and automation until now “exclusive” of the most sophisticated broadcast flows. The company has promised news in this regard in the run-up to the Las Vegas event.

What Shotoku has confirmed is the American premiere of the Swoop, which arrives following its exhibition at IBC 2025. Developed to replace manually operated cranes and booms, the tool has been designed to overcome the most common challenges posed by traditional cranes and booms, including the need for one or even two dedicated operators, as well as the inability to tightly integrate into robotic camera systems.

Swoop is available in two sizes: Swoop 140 y Swoop 220, with an arm reach of 140 cm and 220 cm, respectively. Likewise, it offers two base options: robotic base SmartPed (Swoop SP), which provides freedom of movement around the studio with remotely controlled X/Y positioning, and base manual, a solution where you only need to manually relocate the base between shots or programs.

Swoop integrates with Shotoku's TR-XT control system. The screen StudioView of the TR-XT can show Swoop's location relative to other cameras, while the system SoftRail allows the Swoop SP to be controlled along strictly defined SoftRail trajectories, ensuring precise, safe and uniform movement across the floor.

At NAB 2026, Shotoku will also stand out Quick-Ref, a new function for SmartPed and the Swoop-SP of Shotoku that, through a floor marker with a QR code, contains position data. Automatically read by the pedestal when it is on the marker, it allows navigation to be updated periodically, as well as to correct errors without the need for operator intervention. In this way, the tool comes to replace traditional reference tiles, as well as external optical tracking systems.