The way this usually works is that the inventor would inform the university's technology licensing office of the invention. The licensing office would sample the industry and decide whether or not to file for a patent. The bar for filing a patent is often very low. Interested companies can then approach the licensing office to license the technology.
In some cases, one (or more) of the researchers may decide to start a company and license the tech. Often, the researcher is a student that worked on polishing the original invention; sometimes (rare) a professor takes a sabbatical to build a startup based on the invention. Many tech companies get started this way, including the likes of Google. It's also one of the ways Stanford gets filthy rich.
I'm surprised USC's office of tech licensing were unaware of the original invention and/or that they decided against filing a patent. Perhaps there's more to the story.
From the link provided by chasing above (http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/fov2go-viewer/), it appears that the commercial potential of the original idea was recognized. If the patent was properly written, then almost certainly there would be royalties payable to the inventors. They may not be large, though, depending on which bits of fov2go were "obvious" and which innovative.
In some cases, one (or more) of the researchers may decide to start a company and license the tech. Often, the researcher is a student that worked on polishing the original invention; sometimes (rare) a professor takes a sabbatical to build a startup based on the invention. Many tech companies get started this way, including the likes of Google. It's also one of the ways Stanford gets filthy rich.
I'm surprised USC's office of tech licensing were unaware of the original invention and/or that they decided against filing a patent. Perhaps there's more to the story.