You might have seen photographers framing photos with their hands before taking a snap. But with the new prototype shooter dubbed Ubi-Camera, you will be able to use your hands to frame the photo as well as shoot it at the same time. The miniature camera is currently under development at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences.
According to the video, “When you draw a picture or take a photo, you sometimes form a rectangle with your hands to decide the composition. With this camera, you can take a photo using the exact same motion. You attach this device to your index finger, and form a rectangle with your finger like this (see above). You take the photo by using the rectangle as the viewfinder….When you push hard with your thumb, the shutter is pressed”.
The Ubi-Camera comes equipped with a range sensor, and it detects the distance between the camera and the photographer’s face, and determines the framing. “When you take a photo with your face close to the camera, you get a wide-angle shot….and if you move it further away, you can take a close up shot”. Its lens has a fixed focal length, and you will be able to zoom in on something on your PC.
Although you won’t get that great feeling of holding a real camera when you are using the Ubi-Camera (will also look a bit silly), there is no need for viewfinders and displays for the new system. So we are expecting it to arrive with a low price tag.
But the system is still in the development stage and needs much work to be done on it. “Here, the camera has a wired connection to a PC, but we’d like to make a stand-alone camera that can be freely used outside. Also, the range sensor currently uses infrared, so it sometimes doesn’t detect your face properly, or it can be affected by light from the surroundings. So we’d like to use the camera to measure the distance as well, through face recognition. That would enable the system to be used more precisely”.