An SD card that doubles as a gyro sensor? Protoype hopes to make video more stable
posted Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 5:59 AM EDT
A PetaPixel reader attended Maker Faire in Tokyo and saw a very interesting prototype product, a microSD to SD adapter that includes a 3-axis gyro sensor. PetaPixel reached out to the creator, Yoshiaki Sato, to learn more.
The virtualGimbal "measures the angular velocities of [the] camera while recording video, so users can stabilize videos after using the angular velocity data [on their computer]," Sato told PetaPixel. By serving to both record the video and movement data, you can better electronically stabilize the video during processing.
If this idea seems familiar, a similar product, SteadXP, launched via a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. That device is much larger, though, and it attaches to your recording device externally. The virtualGimbal is, on the other hand, incredibly compact and multi-functional. To fit a gyro inside an SD-card sized space, all while still having a microSD card recording data, is an impressive feat of engineering. It also seems to work quite well, as you can see in the video below.
The product currently exists only as a prototype and it is somewhat limited, able to function in real-time only up to 1920 x 1080 resolution video at 30 frames per second, but Sato says that it currently works quickly and allows users to adjust trimming and intensity during editing.
It's unknown when the virtualGimbal might be available for sale or how much it will cost, but it's a very intriguing concept and one that should excite people who enjoy shooting video.
(Seen via PetaPixel)