Before the days when everyone owned their portable little digital cameras, whenever people try to suggest the idea of picture taking, you’ll see them bring up their fingers into a rectangle shape, closes one eye to help focus a hypothetical photo, and make a clicking sound to indicate they are finished. The Ubi camera prototype feeds on that concept, sans tongue clicking.
Researchers at Japan’s Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences have developed this Ubi camera concept to help people feel more innate to photography, the way we’ve always learned as a kid. The miniature prototype fits into the user’s index finger and lets them adjust the photo frame by drawing the camera closer or farther away from their face. The closer the camera and hands are to the user’s face, the wider the shot. Conversely, the more you extend your hands, the more close-up the pictures will be. Once you have a perfect photo framed within your finger’s rectangle shape, you can click the shutter on the side of the camera to take the picture.
Unfortunately, because the Ubi camera utilizes manual framing technology, you won’t be able to take pictures from long distances because it does not have an extra zooming functionality. It’s also connected to a PC to help edit the photos taken, so the technology is not wireless. Lastly, the infrared sensor in the camera is easily affected by bright lighting conditions. Needless to say, the Ubi camera isn’t your typical powerful handheld device yet, but the concept is still brand new and undergoing further developments to introduce the idea of a mini-camera that uses your natural sight as the viewfinder.
See the Ubi camera in action for yourself in the attached video.
Image Credit: Diginto.tv
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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