by Alan J. Pierce, EdD

Laser Guided Wearable Camcorder

Contour HD by VholdR

VholdR designed the Contour HD (web purchase from $250.00 to $300.00) as a helmet camera that could digitally record the action that the helmet wearer is experiencing as they perform adrenaline pumping daredevil acts. With this camera you set a switch to the up position to shoot HD (1280x720) at 30 frames per second. In this shooting mode the viewing angle is 135 degrees. If you set the switch down to the Standard Mode, what they call SD Fast Action, you will be shooting (848x480) at 60 fps. In this mode your viewing angle shrinks to 90 degrees.

As you can see in the illustration this camera is physically small enough to fit into the palm of your hand. It doesn't have a video screen or even an optical viewfinder. VholdR designed this camera specifically to be mounted where it can catch the action without any help from a camera operator. Of course it can be handheld so it catches you riding a daredevil rollercoaster. Not being able to see your video until you hook it up to a computer will quickly prove to you it wasn't designed for handheld use. It is perfect for mounting on a helmet, bicycle handlebars, skateboard, or even your dog's collar. It will catch the action fast, funny, or downright dangerous that is taking place in front of its lens.

The camera is powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery and the video you shoot is stored as a mov file on a removable Micro SD card. The camera ships with a 2GB card but the internal circuitry can support cards all the way up to 16GB. The camera will consume 2 GB's of storage in an hour of HD shooting. If you are shooting in standard mode you can store twice as much video on the same card.

You can rotate the camera lens 180 degrees to adjust the shooting angle to a horizontal position, a necessary feature since the camera might be mounted in a vertical, horizontal, or even at a skewed angle. To help you determine how much you need to revolve the lens the camera can project 2 red laser beams that will show you your viewing angle.

Alan J. Pierce is co-author of Introduction to Technology, Glencoe McGraw-Hill 2010

and a TechDirections Magazine Columnist .Visit www.techtoday.us for past columns and resources.