As we move to document every single waking minute of our lives, there's a real risk of missing the perfect shot of that dog/latte/kid/sunset in the time it takes to reach our phones. Blincam is designed to remove that awkward fumbling from mobile photography, instead allowing users to capture photos by winking or blinking.
Based in Tokyo, the company behind Blincam say it's designed to help capture images when you otherwise might have missed them because your hands were full, or didn't have your smartphone camera at the ready.
Having attached it to a set of glasses, the rectangular camera unit connects to a smartphone through Bluetooth, although images can also be saved to a microSD card. According to its creators, the camera's eye movement sensor is able to distinguish a strong, deliberate wink/blink from more natural ones. Good thing, too, because we blink between 15 and 20 times per minute, which would make for a lot of boring photos.
There's a battery built into the camera unit, charged by a MicroUSB cable. Even though there's a camera, battery and Bluetooth hardware built in the unit weighs just 25 g (0.88 oz), making it less than a third the weight of a GoPro Hero 4 without a housing on.
Then again, with no specs available, we can only assume it's less than a third the camera.
According to the Makuake crowdfunding page set up for Blincam, the unit will retail for ¥19,800 (US$189) if it makes it to market. All things being equal deliveries should start in August 2017, at which point we look forward to seeing people walking around winking at their coffees, kids and dogs.
If you think this all sounds a little familiar, you'd be right – winking to snap a photo was a major feature of Google Glass.
You can see the system in action in the video below.
Source: Blincam