Geco Mark II: Spectacle mounted video camera seeks crowdfunding
Innovators of Geco Mark II, a small & light action camera, offering hands free operation and recording from an eye level angle are scouting for crowdfunding
Revolutionizing the range of action cameras further, a group of students from South Africa have introduced Geco Mark II, reportedly the smallest and the lightest action camera designed till date. Designed by Prinesh Naidoo, Mishka Naidoo and Dhiren Tahilram (the original Geco team) the camera can be mounted on any pair of glasses and has a mere weight of 18 grams.
Currently, the action camera range is dominated by Contour Roam2 HD, GoPro Hero Black Edition and Braun Six Zero. Countour has a lens 270 degrees wide lasts for 3.5 hours. GoPro offers a ultra-wide-lens and goes 60 metre deep in water. Braun on the other hand has HD video and integrated LCD. Does Geco Mark II have it all to battle with these technologies?
Mishka Naidoo, Design Lead & Co-founder, Geco Mark II
According to Mishka Naidoo, Co-founder of the Geco startup, Geco Mark II is the only camera that can be mounted comfortably on any pair of glasses. “We are also one of the lightest, weighing in at just under 18 grams. Our included waterproof case, also allows mounting to underwater goggles for hands-free underwater filming and contains a pivoting action mount for standard action cam surfaces,” added Naidoo.
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The main strength of the camera in addition to its light weight is that Geco Mark II captures images from eye level and thus offers a true first person point of view footage. Also, the hands free operation feature leaves the operator of the camera free to simultaneously do other tasks while recording.
“We have designed the Geco with a single easy-to-use, tactile button that clicks in to simultaneously turn on the camera and start recording and out, to stop and turn off the device so that the user does not need visual confirmation but can feel whether the device is on or off,” added Naidoo.
Features of Geco Mark II:
Viewing angle: 62 degrees
Resolution: 720p @ 30 frames per second
Video format: .mov
Video encoding: H.264
Battery life: Approximately 60 minutes
Battery type: Lithium Polymer
Capacity: 300mAh
Memory Type: Removable Micro SD class 4 or above
Connectivity: Universal USB port ( Mac & Windows)
Seeking for funds
The Geco team initially self-funded the action camera to get going and is now looking at a crowdfunding action imitative through Indiegogo. The team is hoping to raise US$60,000 and already raised $1,995 at the time of publishing the story. Once the campaign is complete (28 days left) and the team has the desired funding, the action camera shall be available on Geco Mark II’s official website (under development). The team hopes to deliver the product to funders by March 2014. The team is also in touch with number of retailers around the world about stocking it in their shops.
Geco name instantly rings a bell as there is the Gecko engine that is used by servers like Mozilla Firefox. However, the Geco for the action camera is inspired from the versatility and size of an actual gecko – the reptile.
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The main hurdle according to Naidoo was bringing down the size and name of the product as it is their main USP.
While the device manages to create a breakthrough with is light weight and hands free features, it needs a strong backing in terms of finance and marketing to make Geco Mark II known globally and available off the shelf to the consumers.
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