Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve seen a couple of devices that let you take 360º videos or images with ease. However, going by their sample shots, the videos they take are significantly warped and blurry. Thomas Seidl and his Eye Mirror promise to let you take 360º videos in high definition. The privilege is going to cost you, but it just might be worth it.

The Eye Mirror is a lens add-on for pretty much any camera, from old point-and-shoots to DSLRS. It even has a special case for the insanely popular GoPro cameras. When paired with the GoPro Hero3 Black (and a custom firmware), you can Eye Mirror claims that you can shoot 3020 x 3020 360º videos at 15fps. In simple terms, the lens has a curved mirror at the top that reflects the surroundings in a ring.

All you have to do is attach the Eye Mirror lens to your camera and point the camera upwards. When you’re done, load the video to your PC to convert it into an interactive 360º video. So you go from that, to this:

Check out the company’s Kickstarter video below:

As implied in the video, you can share the interactive video online through Eye Mirror’s own video sharing site. The company will also be launching a separate viewer for people who own the Oculus Rift, though that software has its separate price tag. Speaking of which, pledge at least £120 (~$196 USD) on Kickstarter to get an Eye Mirror Lens. Check the reward tiers carefully because as I said the lens has different variants, so make sure the one you’re getting fits your camera.

You should also checkout the sample interactive videos on Eye Mirror’s website.

[via DVICE]

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Kodak’s Super 8 Film system revolutionized home moviemaking, by making it much easier for people to buy and load film, jump-starting amateur film making, and eventually laying the groundwork for camcorders. Of course nowadays everyone with a smartphone or point-and-shoot can be a modern filmmaker. Designer Hayes Urban wants to make the old Super 8 cameras useful again, so he came up with a digital cartridge for the ancient gadgets.

Hayes’ Nolab is a device that fits into the film cartridge slot of Super 8 cameras. It has a 5mp OmniVision sensor and a custom glass objective lens. According to Hayes, “the sensor focuses on a ground glass image plane pressed against the camera’s film gate.” Nolab records 720p H.264 video with a 4:3 aspect ratio, the same native aspect ratio of Super 8 film. It will also have the ability to apply one of two color correction filters. The Nolab uses SD cards for storage and relies on a rechargeable battery for power.

Hayes claims that he and his partners already have a working prototype of the Nolab and indicates that the digital film cartridge will become a commercial product. Check out his website for more about his invention.

[via No Film School]