Digital camera concept
by Jared Mankelow

This concept for a digital camera would let users look through a hole right in the middle of the ring of sensors, rather than framing their shot on a screen or through a viewfinder (+ movie).

The design was a response to a challenge set by technology and science website BBC Future, who asked Jared Mankelow, senior product designer at Conran & Partners, to re-imagine an everyday item.

He came up with a Post-it note-sized camera that would have a hole in it for users to look through when they’re taking a picture.

Traditionally a camera’s viewfinder would be above its sensor, but in Mankelov’s design the hole itself acts as the viewfinder, with multiple sensors forming a ring around the eye.

“The ultimate goal is to take a photo of what you see. What we’ve done is punch a big aperture through the camera’s centre to connect the photographer with what’s in front of them,” explained Mankelow.

Inspired by an old SLR camera, he also decided to do without a digital screen and instead control the device manually with buttons and wheels. A ring flash around the hole would also make it suitable for close-up photography.

We previously featured an eye-tracking camera controlled by blinking and squinting and a wearable camera that decides which moments of your life are worth photographing – see all cameras.

Other technology we’ve published lately includes headsets that allow their wearer to adjust their sight and hearing as they would with a TV and a cuckoo clock that announces new Twitter messages – see all technology on Dezeen.

Read more

• Products
• Design
• News
• Videos