Here is a camera prototype that can remind you of the polaroid cameras of yore except that there is an e-paper display in place of the film. All of it is the result of the efforts of photographer Cameron Dowd as well as his new-found love for e-paper displays. As Dowd stated, he is impressed by how e-paper displays can hold a display for almost an indefinite amount of time while draining zero amount of power, sipping the juice only when the display changes. That way, unlike films, the e-paper displays can be used again and again for holding different mages each time.
The working principle of the camera designed and produced by Dowd is simple. It clicks a picture which is then transmitted to the e-paper display via NFC. That way, there is no wired connection required between the camera and the display. The demo unit as depicted on Hackaday has the display attached to the main body of the camera via a magnet. Also, there is only a single button at the top, and can be used to turn the camera on or off. There is also the LED light that shows the state the camera is in. For instance, a steady red light means it is ready to click a photo while a blinking light indicates it is capturing an image.
The body of the camera is 3D printed and also comes with a handle that is done up in walnut wood texture. Once the image has been captured and rendered on the e-paper display, the same can be detached from the camera body. Also, since it comes with an integrated magnet, the display can be attached to a metal surface for others to see the image you have captured. It is not known though if the image can be transmitted to a storage device for viewing later.
Dowd though has stated he is open to working on a more advanced version in the future, one that might feature a color e-paper display. Meanwhile, all the codes have been made available on GitHub though Dowd warns those have largely been copied and pasted from Google. Maybe future models, if there are going to be one, will allow for saving the captured images externally for viewing on, say an e-note device.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
