New Camera Prevents People From Taking Boring Photos
There’s no shortage of landmarks and monuments in the world, and no shortage of people who want to see them. The best and simplest way to commemorate a visit to one of them is with a photo or two, even if that’s so standard that it’s become boring or cliché. Incidentally, some new technology has taken offense to cliché pictures — to the point where it’s trying to eliminate them entirely.
In all fairness, it’s German designer Philipp Schmitt who took offense, and as a result developed a prototype of the Camera Restricta. Using a smartphone linked to GPS metadata — and eventually, sensors and optics — the camera takes note of popular photo opportunities and physically denies them to a would-be photographer. If anyone wanted to take a picture of the Empire State Building, for example, then the camera could lock up tight on the grounds that the photo’s been done to death.
Naturally, there are still plenty of issues that need to be tended to — the lockout process well among them. If nothing else, though, Schmitt took a personal pet peeve and built something to deal with it; that’s praiseworthy, even if it’s at the expense of photography buffs.
