Hit play… and then click and drag on the video. Do it now.
Steep Turns from the Cockpit via GoPano
A soon as I saw the GoPano micro from EyeSee360 I had to try it for myself.
We had a nice day to fly, so within minutes we were headed to the airport to try it out in the cockpit.
This was just the first test. This was shot with my buddy Pete simply holding the iPhone 4 S up on the glare shield of the Cutlass. No mount, no external mic.
Next I’ll need to figure out an easy way to rig a mount for it there. The iPhone / lens combo is so small that it really doesn’t get in the way of forward visibility, so I could leave it hooked up the whole flight and just grab video when something interesting is about to happen. I also have to figure out a way to pipe in the audio from the intercom. (Still waiting to hear back from GoPano on that.) If I could do that, this could be an amazing way to debrief a training flight.
What’s even more amazing is viewing the video on your iPhone using the free VideoWarp app. The player changes your perspective using the phone’s accelerometer and really puts you inside the action. It. Will. Blow. Your. Mind.
BONUS: This test seems to have avoided the video artifacts that typically makes the propeller look all goofy. We seemed to get a nice blur of the prop arc out in front, which was a pleasant surprise. (My guess is the post processing here counteracts the effect of the iPhone’s rolling shutter.)
Resolution is still a bit limited with the GoPano Micro. It’s nowhere near the quality we get with GoPros or the venerable Nflightcam. I don’t see much reason to step up to the bigger and more expensive GoPano Plus, since I don’t see much of a bump in quality. It’s pretty amazing what $80 will get you these days.
I’ve been thinking about immersive video since my time working on the Jeep brand in the late ’90s. With the the hardware and processing power we now carry in our flight bags, I expect we’ll be bringing many more folks into the cockpit this way in the future.
Rod, I can see some pretty neato applications to that technology if they had something like that thing for the iPhone that went on, say, a GoPro. The GoPano Plus, while the right device for the application I’m thinking of, is way too high-profile. If there was a device like that for the go-pro that was about the size/shape of the one for the iPhone, there would be some potential there.
I have GOT to get me one of those!!!
-Mike
Great work Rod. Would you mind sharing this blog post on our facebook page at facebook.com/eyesee360 so our other fans can read it too. Thanks!
Thanks for the vid & tips. I am getting one for Christmas. You could use a phone holders with suction cup that could mount somewhere. That might help for mounting when you don’t have a passenger. Keep up the flight vids I’m sure they will only get better.