Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi guys,

A few months ago I posted a survey on these forums regarding a university product design project in which I was designing a pair of sunglasses with integrated digital camera. Thanks to the feedback I got from this and other forums I decided to go with a goggle based product rather than sunglasses and concentrate primarily on the snowsports industry.

I am a bit further on in the project and would be interested to hear your thoughts on the direction the project has taken. As things stand, the product is a snowsports goggle capable of taking digital photos and videos whilst the user is in motion or when stationary.

I am currently conducting a short survey into user needs and would be very grateful if you could take the time to participate. It only has 12 multiple choice questions and should only take a few minutes. To do the survey please go to www.advancedsurvey.com and enter 22000 in the ‘Take a Survey’ box.

At the moment there are two potential concepts.

The first comprises of a standard pair of goggles with a camera built into the centre. The lens would cause no or very little obstruction to the user’s view. A wire would run from the rear of the goggles down the users back and into a control unit which would house the memory card, batteries, screen and processor. The user would not need to access the control unit except to view pictures and videos or change settings, presumably at the beginning and end of the day. The control unit would be similar to a normal digital camera.

The option second comprises of a self contained unit where all electronics are contained on the goggles between the actual unit and the strap. This would mean additional bulk on the goggles and no video/photo review screen but would mean there was no need for a cable to be run down the users back.

Another issue that I would be interested in is to where you think the button to take a picture or start/stop a video should be located.

I would be delighted to hear any thoughts on the product, good or bad and would greatly appreciate if you could take the time to take part in the short survey detailed above.

Many Thanks,
Ed

Ed,

Great idea!

I feel that it wouldn't be a problem to have the wires from the goggles, as the ability to have a playback function is so important with a digitally based camera. This I feel would help keep the costs down aswell, as you could use less memory, and slightly larger electronics, as they don't have to be mounted on the goggles.

Have you seen the Oakly sunglasses that have an integral 256MB MP3 player? They seem to not be too bulky, however there must be less electronice in an MP3 player as opposed to a digital camera.

Another thought with respect to the wires is that so many jackets at the moment have MP3 player pockets, and presumably you product could fit neatly into that. These pockets have special access for wires etc. My friend has a jacket that has the wire within the structure of the jacket, that plugs into the MP3 player in the pocket, and runs through the jacket and out again with earphones at the collar. If you could incorporate a similar method then you needn't worry about the wires, as you would simply disconnect the wires if you were to remove the goggles, and the unit would stay intact within the jacket.

I will just complete your survey now. Great idea, and keep posting your progress, as you have definately got one customer when it starts production!

Gordon