Nikon strapped a camera to a dog that was connected to his heartbeat. The resulting photos not only reveal an amazing insight into a dog’s world, but may have unleashed a whole new perspective on photography.
Anybody with a smartphone or a digital camera can take pictures. However, a good photographer invests a lot more than an ability to point a lens and hit the shutter release. A photograph needs to excite the photographer, and that’s exactly what Nikon attempted with a camera meant just for dogs.
Nikon, the company that makes a whole range of cameras, from disposable to digital to high-end SLRs, made use of modern-day wearable technology to outfit a dog with a camera. However, the camera was no ordinary one, and certainly didn’t require voluntary actions like pressing the shutter button, because, well, dogs can’t do that.
The unique world of dogs may not be as big or as mysterious as a cat’s, but it is surely interesting and never before has a technology been developed that allows the dog to creatively express at those moments that touched his heart. Cameras have been strapped onto dogs before, but they were set to record continuously. However, Nikon allowed the dog to be more than just involved with the project. The heartbeat-triggered camera promoted the dog from a mere platform to a photographer or as the campaign likes to call it – Phodographer .
Though Nikon might choose to call it “Heartography,” the technology was relatively simple . Nikon-Asia created a product that could help us understand dogs a little bit better. It involves strapping on a digital camera that is triggered by heartbeat. Essentially, whenever the dog got excited, the shutter was electronically triggered, snapping a photo.
The design involves a heart monitor (like a Fitbit or a human fitness tracker). Nikon manufactured a custom camera-case with an electronically actuated shutter trigger. The dog’s heart rate monitor had the data continually transmitted to the camera case via Bluetooth. When the heart rate spiked, a microcontroller activated a servo hidden inside the case that punched the shutter, which focused the shot then snapped a photo. Or, as Nikon likes to put it, emotion becomes motion.
“Emotion turns to motion and a picture is taken!”
Though “Heartography” is certainly an experiment, one could easily see the potential for a whole new realm for dog lovers who would like to see what exactly excites their canine companion and cherish those moments.
[Image Credit: Nikon, YouTube Screen Grab]