Bigshot (Camera for Education)
Encyclopedia
Bigshot is a digital camera
designed by Shree K. Nayar
at Columbia University's
Computer Vision Laboratory for the purpose of education. It is currently in the prototype phase.
, an Academy Award-winning documentary by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
that profiles several children living in the red light district
of Calcutta. The filmmaker gave each child a camera and taught them photography
so that they could begin to look at their world with a new set of eyes, unveiling hope and uncovering hidden talents from within themselves. As a result, many of them found the strength to break from their circumstances and begin charting out meaningful lives. Nayar launched the Bigshot project in 2006, and the first set of Bigshot cameras were produced for use in pilot workshops in 2009.
, USA
, Bengaluru
, India
, Vũng Tàu
, Vietnam
, and Tokyo
, Japan
with over 200 children, as well as their parents and teachers. Feedback from workshop participants has generally been positive, with several students reporting an increased interest in photography and many teachers praising its ability to promote STEM education. Nayar has indicated that the purpose of the workshops was to explore ways that the camera might address the challenges of children in underserved communities with low access to technology.
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
designed by Shree K. Nayar
Shree K. Nayar
Shree K. Nayar is an engineer and computer scientist known for his work in the fields of computer vision, computer graphics and computational cameras. He is the T. C. Chang Professor of the at Columbia University. Nayar co-directs the and is the head of the , which develops advanced computer...
at Columbia University's
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Computer Vision Laboratory for the purpose of education. It is currently in the prototype phase.
History/Inspiration
According to several interviews with Nayar, the idea of creating a camera for education stemmed from the 2004 film Born into BrothelsBorn into Brothels
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district...
, an Academy Award-winning documentary by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
Zana Briski
Zana Briski is a photographer and filmmaker best known as the director of Born into Brothels, the 2004 winner of the Academy Award for Documentary Feature...
that profiles several children living in the red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
of Calcutta. The filmmaker gave each child a camera and taught them photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
so that they could begin to look at their world with a new set of eyes, unveiling hope and uncovering hidden talents from within themselves. As a result, many of them found the strength to break from their circumstances and begin charting out meaningful lives. Nayar launched the Bigshot project in 2006, and the first set of Bigshot cameras were produced for use in pilot workshops in 2009.
Feature List
- A build-it-yourself kit that students can assemble to build the camera themselves.
- A transparent back cover with labels for each major component.
- A companion website with interactive demos that teach the science and engineering concepts behing each component.
- A normal lensNormal lensIn photography and cinematography a normal lens, also called a standard lens, is a lens that reproduces perspective that generally looks "natural" to a human observer under normal viewing conditions, as compared with lenses with longer or shorter focal lengths which produce an expanded or...
with a 43° field of view. - A panoramicPanoramic photographyPanoramic photography is a technique of photography, using specialized equipment or software, that captures images with elongated fields of view. It is sometimes known as wide format photography. The term has also been applied to a photograph that is cropped to a relatively wide aspect ratio...
lens with a 72° field of view. - A stereoStereoscopyStereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
prism to take 3D anaglyph imagesAnaglyph imageAnaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...
. - A polyoptic lens wheel to allow users to change lenses just by rotating the wheel.
- A hand crank to power the camera without any batteries.
- Colors inspired by M&M'sM&M'sM&M's are dragée-like "colorful button-shaped candies" produced by Mars, Incorporated...
candies.
Preliminary Reception
As of June 2010, a consumer-level version of Bigshot has not yet been made available for purchase, and thus has not been reviewed by camera and electronics professional reviewers. However, prototypes of the camera have been used for community outreach workshops in New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Bengaluru
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Vũng Tàu
Vung Tàu
Vũng Tàu is a city in southern Vietnam. Its population in 2005 was 240,000. The city area is including 13 urban wards and one village. It is the capital of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, and is the crude oil extraction center of Vietnam. It is also known as one of the most beautiful cities of tourism...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with over 200 children, as well as their parents and teachers. Feedback from workshop participants has generally been positive, with several students reporting an increased interest in photography and many teachers praising its ability to promote STEM education. Nayar has indicated that the purpose of the workshops was to explore ways that the camera might address the challenges of children in underserved communities with low access to technology.