WVIL Concept Camera

[mjh]

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And he walks off to take his phone call without any further involvement with the videographer. Disingenuous? Meaningless? A set-up, as I said above? Definitely peculiar to allow a 1:30 clip to be shot, then announce "no pictures allowed" and then walk off.

I think the whole video was staged. This is supposed to have been shot on the show floor of CES 2011, still no one who was at CES has ever mentioned the WVIL so this is a bit hard to believe. Since there is no WVIL or Artefact booth shown in the video, chances are Artefact Group weren’t really exhibitors but just used CES as a backdrop to stage their own show. The two guys asking questions about the WVIL, identified by their name tags as Fernd van Engelen and Tucker Spofford, are actually employees of Artfact Group (see Tucker Spofford and Fernd van Engelen). Fernd van Engelen (on the left) who was asking most of the questions in the video was involved in the WVIL’s design.

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[AlanG]

I think the whole video was staged. This is supposed to have been shot on the show floor of CES 2011, still no one who was at CES has ever mentioned the WVIL so this is a bit hard to believe. Since there is no WVIL or Artefact booth shown in the video, chances are Artefact Group weren’t really exhibitors but just used CES as a backdrop to stage their own show. The two guys asking questions about the WVIL, identified by their name tags as Fernd van Engelen and Tucker Spofford, are actually employees of Artfact Group (see Tucker Spofford and Fernd van Engelen). Fernd van Engelen (on the left) who was asking most of the questions in the video was involved in the WVIL’s design.

 

I think it is clear there is no actual product. They simply have brought together in one package a lot of the talking points that people have been bringing up for years. I'm sure various companies will be employing some or all of these ideas before long.

 

Separating the sensor from the rest of the package for future upgrades.

Adapters that allow for the use of various brands of lenses.

Wireless monitor/viewfinder. (Can use remote ruggedized helmet mounted lenses.)

Upload images directly from the camera.

[mjh]

I think it is clear there is no actual product.

Obviously there is no marketable product but some people still believed those guys had actually demonstrated a prototype, feasibility study or whatever at CES, demoing it to visitors of the show. But even that was faked and the ‘live view’ was probably just some movie. Viral marketing at its best (or worst).

[AlanG]

Obviously there is no marketable product but some people still believed those guys had actually demonstrated a prototype, feasibility study or whatever at CES, demoing it to visitors of the show. But even that was faked and the ‘live view’ was probably just some movie. Viral marketing at its best (or worst).

 

True the video was about deception however it garnered attention which was their goal. But I bet Sony could pull all this off pretty soon if they wanted to.

[ho_co]

Thanks, Michael. As I said twice above, the thing seemed staged to me, but you've done the research and I only had the suspicion.

 

Tacky, tacky, tacky to produce such a fake "demo" IMO.

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks Michael for debunking this story so fast.

This forum (through Michael) came through again.

 

Best, K-H.

[ho_co]

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You know, in a sense, there's nothing new here--

1) Styling--looks like the Sony Nex camera + lens

2) Interchangeable lenses--available in legion

3) Each lens with its own dedicated sensor--Ricoh GXR

4) Wireless control--a lot of cameras

5) Wireless monitor--iPad has similar screen; function itself is similar to tethering; can tethering be done wirelessly? that may be new

6) Useless built-in software functions--all digicams

 

Nonetheless, this combination, "all-of-the-above" camera-thing has generated a fair amount of interest here. I'm sure there are people all over working on similar designs.

 

Same thing when laptops came out. Compaq started it, I think, with their luggable. Hundreds of new ideas followed. And now we've progressed to iPad and MacBook Air.

 

Thanks, K-H, for starting the thread. And thanks, Michael for following up on the flaws in the strange video from CES.

 

Now that we know it doesn't exist, I'm beginning to feel free to like the weevil.

[Archiver]

Heck, I'd buy this camera just to say I've got a Weevil! Sounds like a groovy 60's car like a Mini. Or am I thinking of Evel Knieval? Evel Knieval, playing with his Weezil. Ooh, that doesn't sound right...

 

The design is obviously a composite of current designs and features like the Sony NEX, iPhone/Pad, along with features like Picture Styles and direct upload to facebook. But the concept of a wireless camera isn't original to these people.

 

Consider the Ricoh GXR, with interchangeable modules. It would require a little more bulk in the module to accommodate battery, zoom motor and wireless transceiver, but it's not impossible at all. The technology just has to be miniaturized to the point where it is comfortably small enough. Even Ricoh showed conceptual designs that included a wireless module, I think.

[integrale]

The R-solution?

 

...ah, endlich, das neue i-phone 5 mit r-bajonett....