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Smart glasses could stream video without killing your battery
There a number of reasons why camera-equipped smart glasses haven't taken off, whether it's dorky designs, bans or just a lack of practical applications beyond niche audiences. However, there's a common theme for them all: they need big batteries to handle all that streaming video, which guarantees a bulky set of spectacles. There might be a solution in the long run, however. University of Washington researchers have crafted a video streaming method that consumes up to 10,000 times less power than traditional methods. The trick, the team said, is to offload most of the hard work to another device using clever wireless transmissions.
New LAPD Tasers will trigger body cameras before every shot
Remember those 7,000 body cameras that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti promised to buy for local police officers this year? Well, now the LAPD has ordered more than 3,000 Tasers that can activate them automatically as soon as the safety is flicked off. The police department has opted for the Taser X26P, a "smart" weapon unveiled two years ago, to refresh 2,270 of its older stun guns. A second order will introduce a further 860, all of which are designed to work in parallel with Taser's AXON body cameras. As Reuters reports, later this year the LAPD will be able to pair the two over Bluetooth so that, in theory, there's a video recording every time an officer fires a Taser. The weapon itself can also record important information about each incident, such as the date, time and duration of each shock. As tensions grow around officer misconduct in the US, it's hoped the tools will provide greater transparency and accountability, in particular as evidence in court.
The LAPD is getting a body camera for every officer on the street
We've seen a few police departments institute wearable cameras for their officers, but not to the scale of what Los Angeles is doing. The city is purchasing 7,000 body cameras for its cops in an effort to increase transparency, according to The LA Times. At a press conference, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti admitted that cameras weren't a cure-all for the current climate surrounding the nation's police forces, but that they're a "critical part of the formula." The cameras will record audio and video, with advocates telling The LA Times that the tech could insulate against officer misconduct and possibly clear police accused of wrongdoing.
Seattle police get help publishing body camera videos online
The police aren't often fond of publishing body camera and dashcam footage online, but not necessarily for nefarious reasons -- the volume of privacy-focused video editing they require can prove overwhelming. In Seattle, for example, a flood of public disclosure requests from an anonymous programmer (known by his "policevideorequests" handle) risked scuttling a body cam trial run before it got off the ground. However, that one-time antagonist is now coming to the city's rescue. The man has agreed to help Seattle's police department publish video by showing them how to quickly redact clips and get them online. As the unnamed person explains, it should mostly involve ready-made tools; the police will strip audio from clips using free software and lean on YouTube's automatic face blurring to protect identities.
Here's what it looks like to ride in the Tour de France
The world of sports is actively finding ways to adopt new camera technologies. Namely, to help determine if a ball has crossed the goal line or, why not, to broadcast a player's point of view from a pair of glasses. In the case of the Tour de France, cycling's most celebrated competition, its governing body finally took the plunge and began allowing riders to mount a camera on their bikes. Thanks to that, Le Tour's 2014 edition, which is now at about its halfway point, has been giving us a great, inside look at the experience. Surprisingly, as Gizmodo points out, GoPro seems isn't the main choice for Tour de France teams, which is a bit strange given the popularity of the Hero line of cameras. Instead, most bicycles at the event are equipped with a CM-1000 from Shimano, a large manufacturer of cycling gear. Regardless, this is still a perfect chance to see what it's like inside the Tour de France pack, never mind who's providing the cameras.
Narrative Clip lifelogging camera: Hands-on with the wearable photo capture device
Being both a fan of innovative hardware and a photography buff, one of the products I eagerly anticipated testing was the Narrative Clip livelogging camera (US$279). The product began life as a 2012 Kickstarter project named Memoto and finally reached market this year, so when I was offered the chance to test the Narrative Clip camera, I jumped at the opportunity. What I found is a product that is well-designed and built, but that also demonstrates some of the pitfalls of wearable devices that are meant to capture images all the time. The Device The Narrative Clip looks like no other digital camera you've seen before. In fact, it looks more like one of the many Bluetooth tracking chips that seem to be so popular on Kickstarter these days. Measuring just 1.42 x 1.42 x 0.35 inches (36 x 36 x 9 mm) and weighing just .7 oz (20 grams), Narrative has a clip on the back of it (hence the name), a tiny hole indicating the location of the lens, a set of LEDs to indicate power and status, and a micro-USB port for charging. It's available in three colors: white, gray, and orange. Inside the smooth plastic exterior lie the brains of the Narrative Clip, which include 8 GB of memory, a GPS receiver, an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and an image sensor. When clipped to a collar or pocket, the Narrative Clip begins snapping one 5 megapixel image every 30 seconds. Don't want to take photos at a particular point? Just put it into a pocket or place it face down on a surface and it stops snapping images. If you see something that you want to capture but don't want to take the chance on missing the photo, a double-tap on the device tells it to take a picture right away. The App The Narrative Clip is simply a digital camera with sensors built into it, and as such there is no way to view images directly on the tiny device. To transfer all of those images to cloud storage (one year free storage is included in your purchase), you'll need to have either a Mac or PC running the free Narrative Uploader software. So how do you view your images? Once you connect the Narrative Clip to your Mac or PC, the images are uploaded to the cloud and then processed. Sophisticated algorithms look at the quality of the images and the location where they were captured, and then "moments" are created. Each moment is made up of a series of photos. I found that most of the moments were rather short, although there were some that ran as long as an hour. The cloud processing of images is also one of the reasons that the Narrative Clip can last for about two days on a single charge. Geolocation through GPS is quite power-intensive, so the device captures the location information but doesn't geotag individual images until processing is done in the cloud. Now the images aren't viewed on your Mac or PC; instead, they're processed online into moments and then viewed with the free Narrative app (iOS and Android). The app displays a timeline of the moments, and each moment can be scrolled through to view all of the images. There's a "trim moment" button that is enabled by default to hide lower quality photos. With a tap on the moment, it begins to scroll automatically through the images. A one hour moment made up of about 110 photos played back in about 44 seconds. Individual images can be selected with a tap and shared to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or mailed to others. Images can also be favorited ("starred" in the Narrative vernacular), set as the cover photo for the moment, downloaded to your photo library, or deleted. The Narrative Camera In Real Life The Narrative Clip is going to last about two days on a charge in real life. By real life, I mean that you're honestly not going to be wearing this thing 24/7. For example, over the Easter weekend I took it off when I was at church services because it felt inappropriate to be snapping images during a service. While at a Major League Baseball game on Saturday night, I definitely took the device off when I went to the restroom! But there's one other thing that happened during the weekend that I can imagine owners of Google Glass have also encountered -- having other people tell you to turn off your device because they don't want to have their photo taken. Shortly after I started wearing the Narrative Clip, my wife asked what it was and I told her -- and she promptly told me to turn it off when I was around her. A friend dropped by at one point on Saturday, so out of courtesy I told her what that little white box on my shirt collar was. She referred to the constant capture of images as "creepy". For the most part the images captured are quite good; the camera does a great job of handling varying light conditions, it knows what side is "up", and it can even be told to take a photo with a double tap on the case. On occasion the clothing that the Narrative Clip was attached to would point the camera up towards the sky -- I have a lot of photos of a crowd microphone at the baseball game silhouetted against the sky that are quite useless. But what I found was that despite the quality of the images, the subject of the images was often quite boring. Perhaps that's just a reflection of my middle-aged life; some of the examples shown on the Narrative website show groups of young people running around on beaches, and I suppose this would be a lot more fun if I spent more time engaged in group activities. Where I could see the Narrative Clip being extremely useful is on vacations, especially during activities that I normally take the time to capture in photographs. It could be a second eye, snapping images that are more candid and less composed. And in special places or at special times, it would be incredible to have a photographic record that is being captured without having to constantly be pulling out my DSLR. One feature I wish the Narrative Clip had would be a way to automatically turn the stream of images into a short movie. I've seen several examples where people have taken Narrative Clip images and made them into videos (some time-lapse sunrises are incredible!), but those are done manually. Conclusion I have mixed, but mainly positive feelings about the Narrative Clip. It's an amazing piece of hardware that demonstrates just how far digital photography has come in a relatively short amount of time. The idea of automatically capturing one image every 30 seconds during some activities is fascinating, and the Narrative Clip's dependence on uploading through a Mac or PC is actually quite smart as it doesn't overload your smartphone with a pile of unprocessed images. But is it right for you? That's up to each individual to decide. If the thought of taking a lot of candid photos seems ludicrous to you, then I'd have no problems recommending that you save your money for other things. For those of you who would love to have a way to automatically capture the fleeting images of your lives, the Narrative Clip is a brilliant way to do just that. Rating: 3-1/2 stars out of 4 stars possible
Panasonic's HX-A500 wearable action cam serves up 4K video at 25fps
If you don't mind your wearable action cam being tethered to a separate unit for wrangling controls, Panasonic's HX-A500 offers 4K video capture in return. The company touts the camera as the "world's first" option for said resolution, recording the those exploits at 25fps. There's also a 1080p option at 50fps, 720p at 100fps and 480p an a 100fps crawl for judging that swing in time for baseball season. It will also capture up to 30 minutes of video in up to three meters (about 10 feet) of water, should the need arise. Need to get the footage to another device? NFC and WiFi connectivity are built in with compatibility with Ustream for live broadcasts. The HX-A500 carries a similar look to the outfit's HX-A100, but the "main body" now packs a 1.5-inch LCD monitor for keeping an eye on things and tweaking settings. Other notable features include a IPX8 waterproof rating, automatic leveling correction, image stabilization and a variety of mounts to keep the dustproof cam in the right spot for optimum capture. The HX-A500 is set to arrive in May with a £379.99 (around $626) price tag in tow.
Panasonic's first-person 4K camera debuts at CES, set for launch in late 2014
Wearable devices and 4K are two of the biggest trends at CES, and Panasonic has managed to make both collide. The outfit's revealed a UHD camera that folks can wear on their head with the help of a plastic mount that wraps around their ears and neck. While the prototype is nearly identical to the HX-A100 cam the firm debuted at last year's show (yes, it's still waterproof), this Ultra High-Definition model is lined with some more powerful innards. Detailed tech specs are being kept under lock and key, but the unit on display was sending a live feed of the pixel-packed footage to a 4K display through a mini-HDMI port -- a feature that will be available in the final version. Despite the hardware's compact form, it produced sharp video free of stuttering, and caught a fairly wide field of view courtesy of its fisheye lens. While there's no word on pricing, the first-person camera is slated for a release later this year.
ParaShoot wearable cam heads to Indiegogo after Kickstarter suspension
You may remember the ParaShoot wearable camera we covered a few weeks ago, which had shattered its crowdfunding target with a month and change to spare. If you decided to sink some cash into the project, then you may also be aware it was suspended on Kickstarter a couple of days ago. Matt Sandy from the ParaShoot team has been in touch to share what little info he has -- it's claimed the suspension was out of the blue, and no communication has come from the funding site since. With "manufacturing plans" sorted, however, there's no time to twiddle thumbs, so ParaShoot's hit Indiegogo instead. Seeking $117,358 -- the amount the Kickstarter campaign was frozen at -- version 2.1 proposes a slightly different flat-fronted design (see above and try to ignore the ugly watermark), more choices of skin and a new time-lapse photo feature. Pledge levels are the same, although there's now a "Distributor Pack" option if you want ten of the things. We've reached out to Kickstarter to see if it's willing to tell us the other side of the story, and we'll let you know if we hear back.
Autographer wearable camera launches tomorrow for £400, we go hands-off
It's been a long time coming, close to a year, but OMG Life's clippable, er, lanyard-able life-logging camera will be available to buy tomorrow. The Autographer launches in the UK (where the company's based) and most major European countries on July 30th, priced at a rather prohibitive £400 (we're still confirming a US dollar price, but a later launch has been promised) and pitching itself as "the world's first intelligent wearable camera." We'd position it as an addition to your smartphone and/or standalone camera, like Lytro or the incoming Memoto, for those that have the cash. There's a curious appeal to it, helped by an attractive design that's predominantly plastic. We spent over three days wandering around, sometimes with it on a leather lanyard (included) around our neck, sometimes clipped to our belt or shirt pocket. For better or worse, it's a truly hands-off camera: there's really no way to frame or even time your captures. The Autographer itself chooses when to take a shot using its five sensors (monitoring changes in color, temperature, magnetometer, motion and acceleration), which means there's a hefty dose of luck involved in how your photos turn out. See whether Lady Luck was shining down on us (the sun certainly wasn't) and check out our sample images below and first impressions after the break. %Gallery-194653% %Gallery-194863%
Looxcie HD brings 1080p and WiFi streaming to a helmet near you
Looxcie isn't just a luxurious sounding word (and terrible pun), it's also a maker of life-casting head-mounted cameras. Up until now, it would only let you capture your life in a rather pedestrian 480p, but the new Looxcie HD does away with that, letting you grab that bike ride in full glorious high-definition. Other additions include WiFi (previous iterations relied on Bluetooth) to hook up to your Android or iOS device with, a larger 1,200 mAh battery and improved low light performance. Owners of previous models might spot that with new features comes a new, larger form. The price of evolution it seems. The price for the device, on the other hand, is $279, or $329 if you opt for the "Explore" bundle, which incidentally you can pre-order now. Peep at the source for more.
Caption Contest: GoPro gone wrong
We've been known to strap on a few GoPro cameras in our day, but our efforts are merely amateur in comparison to this guy, who we can only presume is about to perform a stunt so extreme that no less than seven GoPro cams (and a DSLR) are required to capture it. Don: "GoPro Hero." Darren: "Amateurs gonna hate." Billy: "I see your 3D and raise you another 5D. 8D is where it's at." Jon: "I'm so liveblogging this. And Instagramming this. And..." Brian: "Someone take a picture of my weird helmet thing! What do you mean you don't have a camera?" Brad: "Hey bullies! I'm now twice the four-eyes you thought I was in high school. What have you done with your life?" Edgar: "From now on, you shall call me GoProusa." Tim: "Anybody have an SD card I can borrow?" Mat: *BATTERY LOW* Jamie: "Patent pending..." Christopher: "A&E Presents Helmet Hoarders: The GoPro Edition" Sharif: "HQ, are you seeing this?!" Myriam: "Go-Go-Gadget GoPro!"
Replay XD1080 promises to capture your exteme activities without weighing you down
There's certainly no shortage of options available for those looking to record their death-defying (or not-so-death-defying) adventures, but Replay XD has now rolled out what it claims is the "smallest and lightest full HD action-camera on the market." That would be the XD1080, which measures 1.1 x 3.6 inches, records video up to 1080p / 30 fps, and can be attached to a helmet or just about anything else thanks to a range of accessories. You'll also get a built-in HDMI out port, and support for external audio sources (via an adapter) if you're not satisfied with the built-in mic. Still no word on a price, but that should be made known soon, as pre-orders are apparently starting tomorrow. Head on past the break for a sample video. Update: We've just been informed that the kit (including a handful of accessories and a 4GB microSD card) will set you back $299.99.
Looxcie 2 wearable camcorder slims down, adds some accessories
The original Looxcie may not have quite made wearable camcorders as ubiquitous as Blueooth headsets, but the company's not giving on that dream, and it's now back with its all new Looxcie 2. As you can see above, things have slimmed down considerably this time around -- the new Looxcie is about half the size and 20 percent lighter than the original -- but the camera still packs all the same "lifecasting" capabilities you'd expect, including support for Looxcie's iOS and Android companion apps. You'll also get the same Bluetooth hands-free support as before, plus 480p video recording, a promised four hours of battery life, and support for some new accessories that will let you attach the camera to a cap or helmet. Look for this one to set you back $179 for the basic five-hour model, or $199 if you want enough space for ten hours of video.
Switched On: A Looxcie into lifecasting's future
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Remember those early wireless headsets, the ones that made people look like they had been assimilated by The Borg? Few would seek to return to those days for the benefit of bridging a handset and one's ears. But what if one could also bridge a handset and one's eyes? That's essentially the promise of Looxcie, a Bluetoooth headset that integrates a video camera to enable passive video capture. Looxcie's creators note that using the device requires less encumbrance than even a Flip camcorder. Still, there's no getting around it -- the Looxcie is no spy gadget. Accepting the state of the technology for what it is, the designers chose to embrace its size rather than try to minimize it. The protuberance that houses the boom mike and lens of the product swells toward an end that includes a red recording light. The extension in a glossy white, perhaps an homage to massive telephoto zoom lenses like those from Canon.
Waterproof ContourHD case enables head-mounted video captures under the sea
Look, you've always known that you were the next Kelly Slater, but you've never had the outlay to hire a professional recording team to capture your rides off of Oahu's stunning north shore. Thankfully for you, your extreme sporting dreams are about to become a reality courtesy of a $39.99 waterproof case, which has just been released to encase VholdR's ContourHD and ContourHD1080p helmet cams -- which we just so happened to take a look at ourselves earlier this year. Said case can withstand liquids for up to ten meters deep, and just in case you're in the accessorizing mood, the outfit has also released a handlebar mount, vented helmet mount, and a lens kit to its accessory range. Granted, all of this stuff will be rendered pointless when we start embedding HD cameras into our retinas, but we suppose it'll do the trick until that fateful day.
Rugged, waterproof Predator VX360 wearable camcorder destined for X Games
Had your daily dose of Sal Masekela? No? Shame on you! Though, we have to say, if this here wearable camcorder takes off, you could very well hear that very fellow doing color commentary over some pretty sick footage. The Predator VX360 is a rugged, waterproof wearable video camera that's engineered to withstand abuse from the elements while popping 1080 kickflips on the halfpipe, and unlike many head-worn alternatives, this one has its recording module (complete with a built-in LCD) strapped to an armband. The "eyeball camera" is still meant to cling tightly to your dome, but details are scant when it comes to resolution and the like. It's available now for daredevils in the UK, though the £549.99 ($892) sticker is apt to keep most of 'em at bay.[Via I4U News]
Twenty20's VholdR wearable camera catches your sick moves
When you're seriously shredding on your semi-dangerous vehicle of choice (bike, motorbike, personal jetpack, electric unicycle) and you need to capture some of your "moves," you're going to be reaching for something like the VholdR. Well, you probably won't be reaching for it, since Twenty20 says this is "wearable," and though it looks similar to the company's helmet camera, we think you're supposed to put it somewhere else. Regardless -- you'll at least be reaching for the record button... er, switch. The small camera will supposedly capture all your freshest moments with its 192 degree rotating lens, twin laser alignment, "fine line" compression engine, and shockproof, splashproof aluminum enclosure. Finally, a device which is equally matched to your daredevil-like, extreme lifestyle. Available during "the holiday season" for $349.99, and ready for preorders right now.
Designer shows off handsfree video camera concept
While there's certainly no shortage of wearable cameras out there, industrial designer Johan Frossen's latest concept looks to boast a few innovations over the current crop, although you likely won't be able to take advantage of them any time soon. As you can see, the device is designed to wrap around your neck which, in addition to making a fashion statement, keeps your hands free to do other work. Other less than common features include a fisheye lens to capture your surroundings, and no storage on the camera itself, with everything instead transmitted wirelessly to your cellphone (or other device, presumably). What's more, while the device is a concept, it was apparently done "in collaboration with Sony Ericsson," so it would seem to be at least remotely possible that it could eventually see the light of day in one form or another.[Via Yanko Design]
Shoulder-mounted camera could extend human abilities
No question about it, strapping a webcam to your dome or rocking a set of unsightly head-mounted displays can kill a substantial amount of time, but researchers from the University of Bristol are looking at more practical uses of wearable cameras. A shoulder-mounted camera system that "automatically tracks head movements and can recognize hand gestures" has been developed in the UK, and eventually, they hope for it to recognize what the user is doing and make his / her life easier by communicating with other devices based on their actions. The cam is controlled wirelessly by a host computer, which "uses the camera's output to keep track of objects, map its position and recognize different hand gestures made by the user." Interestingly, the perched device even includes a trio of motors for muti-directional assistance, and built-in inertia sensors keep it level with the dips and dodges of life. Of course, we can't promise you that everyone (like mall security) will take kindly to a Big Brother-type device flanked on your shoulder, but at least you won't have to hire a bodyguard to watch your back, right?
