Camera on Your Phone

When cameras first started becoming integrated with mobile phones, I thought it was a needless accessory. I expressed this thought to a good friend who owned an electrical business. He explained that the idea had merit as his guys could take pictures of electrical panels and send them to the office for help with difficult installations. I realized my position was a bit short sighted and opened up to the idea that they could be useful.

As smartphones continued to evolve it became very clear that having a camera integrated with a mobile phone opens up quite a few possibilities. Probably the one used most often is video calls. In my case, I spend a lot of time talking to my grand kids with video. They are young enough that our interactions never last very long but I get to see them as they grow even though a couple of them are half-way across the country.

Working for Sony, I have a really nice DSLR camera but I hardly ever use it. The camera on my phone is not nearly as nice but it is good enough. My wife and I spent a week in Disney World with two of our granddaughters and we took a lot of pictures using just our phones. At the end of the trip, we compiled all of the pictures into a book and have it sitting on a table in our living room. I wouldn't have tried that with the original camera phones due to poor picture quality but technology has evolved to being much better than film cameras prevalent back in the 80's and 90's.

Recently my wife and I returned to Orlando, Florida on business and we rented a car from a very reputable rental-car agency. When we returned our car before catching our flight home, I noticed a gentleman using his camera to take pictures of his car to document the condition with which he returned the vehicle. I thought it could be overkill until I got home and received an e-mail from the rental car company notifying me that the car I returned had damage: a scratch in the door. When I picked up the car several days earlier I noticed the car had a lot of scratches including the one on the door but didn't bother documenting them. When picking up the car, I mentioned the damage to the agent. In hindsight, I should have used the camera on my phone to document all of the damage on the car so as not to get blamed for a scratch I didn't create.

I have been wrong with the usefulness of several technologies and can admit when I have made a mistake. Cameras integrated into smartphones is actually very useful. There are constantly new uses I am discovering. Should you find yourself reaching for a pen to copy a note, remember that phone camera and take a picture. You will capture more information and don't have to worry about reading your own writing.

A Camera For the Blind

One of the advantages about working for Sony is that we can attend product presentations about some of our very unique product offerings. Yesterday I spent about 30 minutes learning about a camera we are making for blind photographers. That sounds a bit strange and so I made sure to listen intently.

The person giving the presentation is a Sony employee working on the product who is also legally blind. He has macular degeneration that has slowly progressed to where he is now. Fortunately he has been able to work on this product that uses a retina projection system allowing him to effectively see as it bypasses the parts of his eye that are no longer working. Instead an eye-safe laser projects the image seen through the viewfinder directly onto his retina. I found the technology and product utterly amazing.

One of the first questions a colleague asked is if we can use the technology to make glasses, effectively giving blind people the ability to see. Someone else provided a link to an existing product and so the short answer is, yes. I'm sure that a number of those with similar macular degeneration would appreciate knowing there is hope to see again. I know I value my eyesight tremendously and would love to know this technology exists should I need it in the future.

One of the first things pointed out about the Sony DSC-HX99 RNV product is that it will not work for everyone. That is why there is a try-before-you-buy program with 2 options before making the purchase. The first is to ask for a demo unit that Sony will ship to you for a 2-week trial. The second is to visit a handful of retail outlets where you can try the device. I imagine everyone will have different results based on individual levels of sight. After all, it would be a very poor product experience to make the purchase only to discover it doesn't work. I like that Sony is providing a 2-week trial for those not located near one of the retail stores as there isn't one near me, should I be interested.

There are a lot of amazing technologies that are improving life for those with special needs, such as blindness. If someone told me that Sony is making a camera for this demographic, I would probably have laughed not thinking it was serious. Fortunately they are and providing hope to others. This is one of those products that make me glad to work for Sony.

Smartphone Camera to the Rescue

Tomorrow the PlayStation 5 will be made available in the United States and I will slowly start migrating all of my game play from the PS4 to the PS5. The PlayStation VR will work with the PS5 but you need an adapter. It is free but you must to request it from Sony. I went through that process this afternoon and discovered I required the serial number of the PSVR. The website does a great job explaining where it is and so I pulled out my reading glasses and headed to get the information.

Unfortunately the older I get, the worse my vision becomes. While I used to be able to read such tiny writing there is no way I could make out the serial numbers even with my glasses. Fortunately I had my phone with me and so I just took a picture of those tiny little numbers on the back of the PSVR control box. Then I zoomed in on the picture and could easily read the numbers. Now my adapter is on the way.

When phones first started getting cameras I thought they were a joke and wouldn't really be that useful. Then I started taking more pictures of spectacular sites simply because I have a camera with me all the time. Now the camera is my go-to device when I need to fill out warranty cards and other services that require serial numbers. Manufacturers always seem to hide them in difficult-to-read places. Just grabbing my phone and snapping a picture is so much easier. No need to hunt down a pen and paper to write the number down. Then when I am done with the picture, I can delete the photo.