This ‘AI Camera Assistant’ Has Raised Over $3.7 Million on Kickstarter
Arsenal—the “camera assistant” gadget that uses AI to pick your camera settings for you—is back on Kickstarter. After successfully funding and shipping version 1 to over 15,000 backers, creator Ryan Stout is back with Arsenal 2, and he’s already raised nearly $4 million!
While purists will likely cringe at that last sentence, the idea clearly struck a nerve: Ryan raised over $2 million in funding for version 1 and has shipped over 100,000 units to date, and with 24 hours to go in funding, Arsenal 2 has become the most funded camera gadget ever with nearly $3.8 million raised as of this writing.
Here’s a quick intro to Arsenal 2:
As the video explains, one of the main differences between Version 1 and Version 2 is the AI helper’s new and improved sensors, which fine tune your camera settings by analyzing 22 different environmental factors in real time, and adjusting settings to match.
For example: fast motion might prompt it to speed up your shutter, while waves would lengthen the shutter to create a long exposure effect; if there are multiple subjects, it might close down the aperture to increase the depth of field; and if it detects hand shake, it might increase ISO to balance out the faster shutter speed.
In addition to the new sensors, Arsenal 2 also includes some multi-shot features and a few specific scene modes.
Multi-shot features allow you to create HDR or focus stacked images, or create and stitch a multi-row panorama with a live preview on your phone; the two scene modes include “Night Assist” for one-touch astrophotography, and “Crowd Control” for automatically stacking shots and removing people from your images.
Finally, Arsenal 2 also dips its AI-toes into the post-processing step with something called “Deep Color.” This feature uses a neural network to intelligently analyze and assign a set of custom adjustments to each of your photos as you take them, essentially creating fully “developed” images before you’ve even uploaded your shots into your favorite RAW editor.
Here’s a look at some before-and-after shots so you can see what this looks like:
Here’s a closer look at the Arsenal 2 itself, which looks almost identical to the first version:
Arsenal 2 comes in two flavors. The “Standard” version will cost you $170 through Kickstarter ($250 MSRP) and is 3x faster than the original Arsenal 1, while the “Pro” version will cost you $250 through Kickstarter (MSRP $365) and is 5x faster than the Arsenal 1, boasts weather resistance, and adds USB-C connectivity.
To learn more about Arsenal 2 or pledge to grab your own before the campaign ends tomorrow, head over to Kickstarter.