New Gizmos at the Olympics: AP’s Robotic Cameras
Major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and Olympic games are the incubation grounds for new camera technology, because news organizations are jockeying for competitive advantage and a chance to show off. And the Summer Olympics in London are no exception.
Associated Press has posted this promotional video touting the robotic cameras it has developed for this year’s games. Remote cameras are usually fixed, but operators of AP’s remote robotic cameras will be able to pan, zoom, and swivel the camera up and down using a joy stick, as they monitor the view on a computer screen–and click the shutter at decisive moments.
AP says it will have a robotic camera in each of 12 different venues. Anticipating where all this might be leading, we asked whether a single operator will be controlling several cameras at once, and whether operators can work from far-off locations–say a desk in New York–similar to the way the military flies its drones.
AP spokesperson Paul Colford says there will be one operator per camera. He adds that according to AP director of photography Santiago Lyon, the operator has to be at the venue where the camera is located, “because otherwise there would be a delay in what the operator is seeing.”
July 25th, 2012 at 10:13 am
[...] Press has announced that it will be using robotic cameras (in addition to its team of photographers) to photograph the [...]
August 1st, 2012 at 12:02 pm
[...] Press has announced that it will be using robotic cameras (in addition to its team of photographers) to photograph the [...]
August 14th, 2012 at 9:04 am
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