Design Challenge
How can our mobile phones boost positive in person interactions?
I’m going to reference two products as my starting point: Nimslo 3D and Spaceteam.
1 NIMSLO 3D Camera
Released in 1982, the Nimslo takes four pictures at once. Now I have no idea what one would do with 4 almost duplicate images as the magic of .gifs weren’t around yet. These days the Nimslo is a novelty camera, but hardly worth the time and the results always vary.
Snap. Develop. Scan. Photoshop. Export. Repeat.
Four images are exposed simultaneously. When compiled as a .gif, the results are stunning, but few actually go this far.
2 Spaceteam
Spaceteam is an app that joins four nearby phones in order to begin the game. Everyone must work together, shouting commands to save the spaceship from destruction.
Nimslo + Spaceteam
Can we recreate this style of image using the cameras in our pockets? Furthermore, can we work together to create an outcome that can’t be done alone? The goal is to boost collaboration, communication, and creativity in real life.
[ show sketch of nimslo camera plus four phones. four lenses equals four phones ]
PACA App
PACA stands for Parallax Camera.
To achieve the wobble effect, we take out our phones and stack them together, exposing only the cameras. The distance between the lenses is small, but just enough to create the parallax effect.
The Paca App does the hard work for us. Syncs the cameras, exposure, shutter, and boom. All phones fire at once.
PACA combines the multiple images, saves it to the app, and is ready to fire again.
[ user walkthrough ]
[ app mockup ]
Ideation
PACA is a concept designed by Adam. The idea has sat in his notebook for a few years. These mock ups were made this week.
A recent poll through my personal Instagram revealed that for majority of us, mobile devices provide access to inspiration and boosts our creativity. However, the same users say the devices themselves seem to hamper our productivity. The result, discouraged creatives with slowed output. How might we fix this? How can we design products that we can wait to create with?
Growth Opportunities
Bullettime. Remember Neo dodging bullets in the matrix? How many phones can we sync? Imagine 360 degress of cameras. Even video.
Ripcurl did a similar effect using a dozen GoPros while surfing. Behind the scenes reveals it was a bitch to build, sync, and have all the cameras fire simultaneously. Plus, GoPros are on their way out.
Next Steps
This is a concept. I’d gather initial feedback, refine, repeat. Then find a nice dev and put the machine into motion. I imagine this would be a fun app to start up at festivals, installations, experiences.