Future Birding Gadgets? (6 Viewers)

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

Bins that identify the birds for you. Ah how lazy can I get?!

It shouldn't be far in the future with phone apps like Google Goggles and Shazam, just a case of incorporating that into bins for recognition of bird calls and best-fit google images (perhaps worrying given how many of the latter are mis-identified)

 

[chris butterworth]

Personally, taking the sonogram approach, I would like a easy to carry bat identification tool, that I could literally point at some flying bats (or in an area of the night sky which might have them), and pop out and ID. I know they have bat detectors, but I have seen less on the ID front here in North America, which has a pretty high diversity of bats.

Now we are talking. A bat ID app based on vocalisations. :t: :t: :t:

Chris

 

[carlj]

Tele-taser - for those birds that don't sit still long enough for id purposes? And also dual purpose use in hides?

 

[grebefeet9]

Bins with heated barrels for winter birding.

i like this idea.

 

[Mike Richardson]

Now we are talking. A bat ID app based on vocalisations. :t: :t: :t:

Chris

People are working on such an app at the moment. Just hope it actually works well enough to use in the field.

 

[Phil Andrews]

what about a device attached to your bins / scope that blurs out birds that you have already identified - very useful in working through a large wader / gull / duck flock to find that hidden rarity.

 

[angusmcoatup]

For garden birding, something that scares the bejesus out of all neighbouring cats and Grey Squirrels.

 

[2spot Ladybird]

all your optics in a single device - bins, scope, camera. like a pair of specs but weighing no more than they do already with all the optics contained in the lenses. you could zoom in & out by tapping a small wireless device. photos as well auto stored wirelessly to a tiny usb drive in your pocket with enormous storage. all of this in your pocket... no carrying round of anything heavy ever again... room for bigger sarnies in your bag... or bigger books

This.

Maybe with photos being taken with a deliberate blink of the eyes, then that darn bird that always flies away the second you are just about focused on it won't ever escape ID again.

 

[liverpool_bob]

Integrating the scope-camera-smartphone so you can send what you're looking at to some pre-set choice of locations, e.g. blog, flickr, email to BirdGuides, alerts friends in social network etc. As a bonus you could open the connection so people could connect to the image directly so you could get opinion on ID etc.

On second thoughts the frustration of receiving "quick, login to my scope and see what I'm looking at" might be too much stress for some people :-O

 

[Giklab]

There have been binoculars with an inbuilt camera!..but they have been produced by ''little known'' companies offering limited resolution producing an inferior image.
If Leica, Zeiss or any other ''blue chip'' manufacturer brought out a quality product 8x/10x sporting double digit mp, linked to a large sensor..ie producing HQ shots/1080p Video, enabling the user to ''image'' exactly what they see after manually focusing. I for one would go into debt for this type of kit, as binoculars are much better balanced for usage/and instant focusing than any camera.

Little known?
www.sony.co.uk/hub/binoculars

 

[owl flight]

Little known?
www.sony.co.uk/hub/binoculars

HD, 3D... you wouldn't even need to go see anythin' just send your bins along with someone & enjoy later in the comfort of your sittin' room on large telly. specially handy for pelagics :-O

 

[LabradorDuck]

For an integrated camera, how about one of those newfangled "light field" camera?

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/drive_to_discover&id=8446497

It doesn't require focusing because you focus after you take the picture. It's probably inferior in some way for artistic composition, but if it works as billed it would be great for snapshots in challenging conditions.

 

[Mono]

I have seen the future and it is http://www.sagem-ds.com/IMG/pdf/D1351E-JIM_LR.pdf

 

[gandytron]

I would like a 50mm - 1000mm L-class lens that weighs only a few ounces and who's AF can discern twigs/leaves/wobbly water and ignore them.

If it was under a tenner I'd be even happier. :t:

I seem to remember a long time ago hearing about the idea of developing an autofocus system that used an infrared beam to measure exactly where you were looking in the viewfinder so that the camera would focus on that point...did anything ever come of that?

 

[gandytron]

It shouldn't be far in the future with phone apps like Google Goggles and Shazam, just a case of incorporating that into bins for recognition of bird calls and best-fit google images (perhaps worrying given how many of the latter are mis-identified)

gotta agree that an app that records bird vocalizations and then compares them to a database of sonograms for ID purposes must be just around the corner...

 

[walshey]

A scope/bins/head attachment that looks up at the sky constantly and would beep whenever the next flipping Osprey/Black Kite/Crane flys straight over my head. Generally the first I hear of these is when someone sidles up a couple hours later to say, those were lovely weren't they!

Cheers
John

 

[Mysticete]

Something I think would be really useful would be an app like googlemaps, where if you are driving cross country it will produce a route that includes good birding spots for the appropriate time of year. I am probably driving from Wyoming to Michigan this spring, and I really know nothing about birding in places like Iowa or Nebraska. Getting a good list of birding places along my route would definitely break up the monotony of the trip

 

[Farnboro John]

A scope/bins/head attachment that looks up at the sky constantly and would beep whenever the next flipping Osprey/Black Kite/Crane flys straight over my head. Generally the first I hear of these is when someone sidles up a couple hours later to say, those were lovely weren't they!

Cheers
John

What you want is a police radar gun mounted pointing up.

John

 

[MJB]

Something I think would be really useful would be an app like googlemaps, where if you are driving cross country it will produce a route that includes good birding spots for the appropriate time of year. I am probably driving from Wyoming to Michigan this spring, and I really know nothing about birding in places like Iowa or Nebraska. Getting a good list of birding places along my route would definitely break up the monotony of the trip

The Netherlands-based satnav firm TomTom don't include national, state or local reserves/parks in their tourist menus!
MJB