GoPro Has Designed an Osmo Pocket Competitor with Modular Pieces
The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is not only the most popular camcorder on the planet, it’s one of the most popular camera devices, period. It is also occupying its niche pretty much uncontested, as only a smartphone or an action camera are modern viable competitors. That might not remain the case for long, however, as GoPro has designed a competitor.
As spotted by The New Camera, GoPro has filed a patent for what it describes as a unique combination of mechanical and electronic image stabilization but it shows a few instances where this technology could be implemented, including in what appears to be GoPro’s take on the Osmo Pocket.
The camera unit, which includes the imager and a stabilization system, appears removable and interchangeable from the base hand unit. GoPro refers to this as an “image capture module” and describes its capability to track a user and can freely rotate up to 180, 270, or 360 degrees. This capture module connects to what GoPro describes as a handheld module, which is designed to be ergonomically held while using and features a touch display and/or a button to operate the camera system.
There are several proposed iterations on each of these modules, but the similarity between them is that the imaging module and the handheld module are designed to separate. This isn’t a wholly new idea for GoPro, as it attempted a similar design back when it launched its Karma drone. The Karma’s camera system was attached to a removable gimbal and GoPro camera which could, in theory, allow it to be used exactly like how the Osmo Pocket is used today, albeit a larger and clunkier version. This patent describes a more elegant, slimmed-down version of that design.
Such a modular system does have advantages. For one, GoPro could release multiple versions of its camera system that could work with the same base module, allowing users to upgrade parts of their kit instead of the entire system. Another possible angle is that GoPro is considering other use cases for the imaging module, such as what it first attempted with the Karma. In fact, that appears to be something GoPro is at least considering with this design.
In the patent application, GoPro specifically describes its mechanical and digital hybrid image stabilization system working in a “quadcopter drone.” Seeing a drone included in a patent application is not confirmation that GoPro will make a return to the drone market after its spectacular crash out the first time around, but it is worth noting that it’s at least something the company considers as a possible option.
As is always the case, a company’s patent filing is a far cry from confirmation that it will ever bring that design to market, as we’ve seen countless times with applications from Canon, Apple, and many others. There are so many further steps GoPro would have to take before this product ever hits store shelves, but it at least shows the US-based company is considering a second try at taking on DJI.
Image credits: DJI Osmo Pocket photo via DJI. All others via US Patent Office.
