IoT-enabled Camera Robots for the TV & Film Industry

What is it about?

This work focuses on the design, development, deployment, and reaction to, an IoT (Internet of Things) enabled Robotic Camera Dolly. This system would allow directors and filmmakers to shoot a scene remotely. A Camera Dolly is a trolley-like platform that carries the camera, operated manually by a Camera-person as instructed by the director. In our system, we developed a robotic Dolly and linked it to the cloud through the IoT to develop a remotely operated robotic camera.

Featured Image

Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash

Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash

Why is it important?

With our system, a filmmaker can operate a camera, or multiple cameras, remotely from his laptop or mobile device, wherever they are as long as connected to the internet. Although it was not originally designed for it, this work found new relevance due to the social distancing measures taken in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic starting from 2020. Aside from the technology aspect of this work, we also conducted a social study on its Social Impact, particularly on the production and filming crews, whom we asked to experiment with our robot and perform generic filming tasks and give us their feedback. For this study, we learned exciting lessons on Technology Adoption and people respond to new tech in the workplace.

Perspectives