This looks like it could be handy for those of you that don’t have someone to take proper videos of you when you are doing sprints/starts.
http://www.wimp.com/remarkabletripod/
Works with the iPhone but I’m sure it could also be used with Flip cameras or similar sized cameras/smartphones.
Fantastic idea.
Might be worth checking into the pan rate of the device. I have a gut feeling it won’t be able to move fast enough to capture any but the slowest folks since stuff like that usually isn’t developed for high-speed applications. Usually it’s more for stuff like video conferencing, webcam type stuff to keep the camera on your face or whatever. Not saying this can’t do it but worth looking into before investing.
That will depend on how far away you place the device from the action. I would think that you could mount it 20m away (off to the side) and still be able to track fast running. I assume this will depend on the range of the remote.
I’m more curious about the cost of this device. Can’t find any info on a price. I assume the product hasn’t been released yet.
That occurred to me, but the further you pull away, the less detail you’ll be able to see.
Feb 28 Blog post
[i]
On Friday, we asked folks on our Facebook page what questions they’d like answered in a blog post. Here are some of the responses we got:
* How much will it cost?
* When will it be released?
* Where will we be able to purchase it?
* Will it work with more devices than the iphone4?
* Will there be larger versions?
* Does it track vertically, or just horizontally?
* Will you be able to have it in horizontally?
* Can i have one for free? :)
* Vertical tracking?
* Would you like to Skype in for my High School Conference?
* do u ship internationaly? hope it would be available here in the philippines
how much does it cost?
Thanks for all of your responses! We already apologized to everyone in advance that some answers will have to be qualified answers. Here they come…
The reason for this is that we haven’t yet finalized our commercial product funding and go-to market strategy. We’re still two guys working out of a garage at the moment. In order to launch the product we’re going need to hire a few more product developers, contract a manufacturing and distribution organization, invest in tooling, inventory and much, much more. We’re currently working hard on securing the necessary funding/partnerships to be able to do these things. And the good news is that there are a few options under consideration. But depending on which one we select (or selects us? ), it could have a significant impact on the design and distribution of the first product.
The most notable area for this is in the tilt/vertical tracking. First off, we’ve heard the feedback loud and clear! We know you want it and we WILL deliver it at some point. The question is, will it be in our first product? Unfortunately we can’t answer this yet. Technically speaking, its possible to implement this feature. However, its not necessarily easy. Making our servos work smoothly and quietly for the range of device options we want to support is deceptively difficult (see this video for an example of how we don’t want it to look). The kind of deceptively difficult that if we try to tackle it without enough development resources, we could have months of launch delays or worse, a poorly performing product. And that would be bad for us all. The options we have for our go-to market have varied amounts of funding that affect how many development resources we can apply to our first product. Ultimately we’re going to draw the line of whether to include it or not based on if we think we can execute to our high quality standards.
As for price, we’re working diligently to be able to offer our product at a lower price than our campaign unit price of $200. We’re not able to say at exactly what price point yet. It depends on how low we can drop our material costs, what features are included and how the product gets distributed.
Included in that price is also going to be some really cool new features too. Some of them based on feedback we’ve gotten, some of them just ideas we have tucked up our sleeves. Taken all together, we think its going to be an awesome product and we’re getting really excited to debut it.
Our tentative plan is to launch it before the end of this year with online distribution only. Which means you can order it and have it shipped from anywhere in the world (as long as you cover the shipping). There will be subsequent product releases with additional cool new features, as well as different sizes to address other devices (which ones we know but can’t share at this time).
Now on to the hardest two questions:
* Can i have one for free? :) Depends. Do you know Ashton Kutcher?
* Would you like to Skype in for my High School Conference? We appreciate the invitation, thank you. However, we will have to respectfully decline your invitation. Vlad had an embarrassing tale at his own High School Conference that he prefers not to relive. You see, he was kind of a nerd, and…well, you get the picture.
Thanks for your interest. We’ll continue to provide updates on how our go-to market strategy develops as well as our product development.[/i]
Thanks for posting NumberTwo! They are targeting below $200. Right now the inventors are in Taiwan to source components and manufacturing.