Michael Kintner is an entrepreneur with a knack for innovative photography. After a personal close-call with a shark – an unnoticed one for the human counterpart – during a scuba diving trip, Michael decided to design an (image) capturing set-up, which would guarantee recorded footage further than his own underwater vision could provide. From this enlightened project came the idea of building a camera rig with 360° recording capabilities – eventually named 360Heros.
For the actual image capturing, Michael chose to use GoPro Hero cameras – six of them in fact – and 3D printing was the production method of choice for building the actual rig – due to its fast iterative qualities. After contacting 3D Systems, Michael acquired a CubeX for the hardware and Alibre Design Expert for the software side. Before the sun had set on the day that the 3D printer was delivered, the first iteration of a rig had emerged from the extruder.
Below is a video of Michael explaining the design and manufacturing process of 360Heros in a SyFy Network’s CES interview – and showing of(f) some footage recorded of himself on a bike – on an iPad app.
Bringing this nifty design to the market has received an additional, albeit unexpected marketing push from the entertainment industry as well as its tech counterpart. Director Chris Milk – currently working with the recording artist Beck – approached Micahael to request the use of the 360Heros camera set-up for a unique kind of audiovisual experience. “Sound and Vision” is a Beck performance recorded with the 360Heros – a musical journey with four stereotracks that also features the audience in the mix – which gives the listener a true interactive, all-access pass to Beck’s concert, but from the comfort of your own home.
If you want to try this 360Heros application out for yourself – a bit of an odd experience for myself at least – hit this link and enjoy (you’ll need to have headphones and the webcam on to get the full experience).
Source: Cubify blog
All images courtesy of Michael Kintner
