A good home theater system can be costly when you factor in the TV and stereo system including speakers and an amplifier.
H1 is a portable, 3D full HD smart projector that features Harman Kardon 45mm dual unit stereo sound. The projector uses Texas Instruments DLP technology and its brightness is rated at 900 ANSI lumens for daytime or bright-light viewing. H1 is the latest LED projector from Chinese manufacturer XGIMI, and transforms any surface into a 300-inch screen.
Shooting stereoscopic 3D video with an existing 2D camera would be a nice feature to have. But most cameras aren’t designed to do that and achieving a stereoscopic 3D effect typically requires two separate cameras, plus additional software to stitch the two videos together.
Vitrima is a stereoscopic 3D lens that connects to a GoPro camera via the camera’s standard housing that comes pre-attached to the lens. The lens transforms the camera into a 3D recording device without the need for another camera or special software. It uses mirrors to create the 3D natively in the camera. Another nice feature is that Vitrima is waterproof.
The typical portable LED projector offers consumers a pretty good way to display video and other content on any flat surface wherever they are. But most aren’t designed to offer a complete entertainment experience including good-quality sound.
Z4 Aurora, however, is a smart, portable LED projector that features integrated Android functionality and stereo sound from audio company Harmon/Kardon. The projector can turn any surface into a 300-inch screen. Apps and games can be wirelessly streamed onto the projector, which also supports active-shutter, stereoscopic 3D video, as well as MP4, 4K and Blu-ray video. It uses an energy-conserving bulb and has a projected lifetime of 30,000 hours, more than the average expected lifetime of several rival projectors.
The number of virtual reality (VR) devices on the market and seeking funding via crowdsourcing continues to grow.
LucidCam is trying to help solve one problem for the emerging VR market: a lack of content. It’s a consumer stereoscopic 3D, 180-degree virtual reality camera that is portable and allows users to capture everything around them in full, 1080p HD per-eye video and 2K per-eye photo quality, according to its Indiegogo campaign. The content captured by LucidCam can then be used for VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift. LucidCam’s slim design allows it to fit right in the user’s pocket. LucidCam ships in July and its future retail price is about $500, although early bird backers can get one at pricing as low as $349. Its makers are looking to raise $100,000 by Dec. 26.
It’s still too early to say just how successful the VR product category will actually be. But LucidCam may have a bright future as long as the content captured with it can be viewed on whatever VR headset winds up being the most popular one. The inability of LucidCam to capture 360-degree video is a minus, but the addition of that functionality is a stretch goal of its makers. It also lacks the ability to shoot 4K like the recent Sphericam 2 can.
In Episode 22 of the Backerjack Podcast, Steve and Ross check out some of the latest products seeking funds and preorders, including:
We also mentioned a few other products we wished we had time for: the TrekAce forearm navigation device and the Nourish nutrition drink countertop device. Also, check out Backerjack’s first hands-on reviews of the Pebble Time smartwatch, Remix Ultratablet and Jorno folding keyboard.
Download the episode or listen below, subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and subscribe to the Backerjack Daily Digest to make sure you catch all the gadgets we’re covering. Also check out Steve’s great work on Apple World Today!
For decades, much of what movie and TV companies have referred to as 3D has really been stereoscopy, the illusion that parts of an image are at different levels of depth in front of your eyes. We’ve even seen a few products that can turn the iPhone into a 3D viewer. But true 3D images can be rotated in space and seen from multiple angles. We’ve even seen a crowdfunded gadget to turn an iPhone or two into a stereoscopic image capture devices.
But Bevel is different. The iPhone add-on combines invisible lasers and the iPhone’s camera to create true 3D images of everything from adorable desserts to creepy floating heads that can be rotated once captured. That’s not too surprising given that the Bevel was developed by 3D scanning company Matter and Form. Captured 3D images can even be printed on a 3D printer although the campaign doesn’t show any examples of how that turns out.
It’s a bit of deja vu as Steve and Ross check out a very different kind of connected lock from the Sesame lock and a MIDI alternatives to Opho Keys, both discussed in Episode 9, In this first double-digit episode, the podcast takes on
3D was the laughing stock of the TV industry a few years ago. Despite all the ridicule and lack of content hurled at it, though, all of those 4K televisions flying off the shelves can support 3D. In addition, new TVs in development promise improved quality 3D without glasses.
For those who’d like to take advantage of the second (or extended first) coming of 3D television using today’s devices, Tel Aviv-based Moebius Industries has created Stesco. The clever pocket-sized bracket holds two iPhones adjacent so that they can each capture part of a stereoscopic image Its price is so low that the campaign can be forgiven for its gratuitous use of selfie sticks in its videos. The company offers a free app that stitches together the two photos or video streams after establishing a communications link, presumably via the Lightning connector. Moebius seeks to raise £30,000 (about $44,000) by April 13. Stesco costs £8 (about $12) for either the iPhone 5(S) or 6 and should ship in July.
While iPhone photography add-ons have proliferated, most have focused on the convenience of the device that happens to be in your pocket. Unfortunately for Stesco, few people carry two iPhones in their pocket. And even if you have a friend willing to lend you one, it must be of the same generation to work to the product. While it produces smaller images and costs more than three times as much, Poppy 3D does the 3D capture trick with one iPhone. However, for partners, families, or amateur video crews who have easy access to a matched set of Apple smartphones, Stesco is a ridiculously inexpensive way to create stereoscopic photos and video.
Having a device in the house that can function as a personal assistant, while also serving as a home automation system would come in handy. Especially when it combines far-field voice recognition with emotion, facial and object recognition. Introducing the Personal Robot, one such device, from the New York-based company Robotbase.
Personal Robot features a 3D depth camera and noise canceling microphone array technology, and it can communicate with the user’s connected devices via wireless Z-Wave Plus, Zigbee, BLE and Wi-Fi. The far-field voice recognition enables the device to hear the user’s commands all the way from the other side of the room. The user can ask Personal Robot for information including the local weather, news, sports scores and recipes, as the video on its Kickstarter campaign shows. The device can also be used to play music, schedule meetings, set alarms, and control the temperature in a home to save energy and money. Backers who pledge $995 will get one when it ships in December. Its maker set a goal of raising $50,000 on Kickstarter.
Other devices on the market have attempted some of the same functionality. But Personal Robot’s advanced software, which incorporates deep learning algorithms, give it an advantage over some competing products. Some consumers might find the computer-animated female character that is featured on the device’s screen a bit creepy, although the device’s maker says the user can change how she looks.
Virtual reality has become one of the hotter technologies of the past couple of years. But the Oculus Rift and others of its ilk have yet to become available to consumers and, when they do, aren’t expected to be cheap.
The Long Beach, California, maker of the PRO3D stereoscopic 3D and virtual reality viewer is aiming to bring similar technology to the masses with an inexpensive attachment for the iPhone 6 Plus. Their model won’t be anywhere near as bulky as the Oculus Rift and other similar devices. Backers who pledge $29 will get a bare bones version of the attachment when it ships in June. Those who pledge $47 or $86 will get more elaborately designed versions of the product. Its maker is looking to raise $39,700 on Kickstarter.
This isn’t the first cheap virtual reality product for smartphones, following on the heels of devices including ShareVR. PRO3D’s focus on only one smartphone model stands to limit its appeal significantly. If the effect it provides–the quality of which is impossible to tell from its Kickstarter campaign video–is mediocre or worse, that will cut down on its chances even further.
