I built a new gopro accessory for hands-free pov shooting, thought y’all might dig it



Zac R

New Member
Jun 9, 2016
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Portland, OR
Hi fellow cyclists!

My name is Zac, and I’m a big fan of active, outdoorsy sports.

I’ve been using a GoPro for years for mountain biking, skydiving, rock climbing, and general shenanigans. But the big problem I noticed with the GoPro is that there’s no good way to control it when both your hands are busy, which is ironic for an action-sports camera.

When I wanted nice still photos, I did what most people do: turn on time-lapse mode, check that it’s working, have fun, then sort through hundreds of photos when the fun was over. And for video recording, all of my videos started with staring at the camera to check if it’s recording. Does the phrase “Is it on?” ring any bells?

Sound familiar?

It was a total pain and I figured there had to be a better way - but I searched... and there wasn’t.

So I decided to build one. And after a year of hard work and development, I’m finally launching it on Kickstarter next week!

It’s the first ever GoPro accessory that gives you complete control over your GoPro even if it’s strapped to your head or handlebar. I’m calling it the GoHawk. The GoHawk adds the following features to your GoPro Hero4 camera:

  • Remote shutter switch port - Universal 2.5mm port for complete hands-free shutter control of the GoPro

  • Remote LED indicator so you can always see your camera’s status

  • Auxiliary USB power port, works with any USB power source so you’ll never run out of power.

And it just snaps onto the back of the GoPro - there’s no software needed to make it work.

The idea is that action sports photographers can operate the camera shutter through a bite switch, tongue switch, or handlebar switch, and the remote LED indicator can be mounted in your helmet or wrapped around your handlebars.

A few examples of how you could use it:

  • Bicycling / Motorcycling- take pictures easily while riding (handlebar switch)

  • Climbing - take pictures while both hands are busy belaying or climbing (mouth switch)

  • Skydiving - take pictures while flying (mouth switch)

  • Skiing / Snowboarding - take pictures while skiing with your poles (mouth switch)

  • Anything fast and fun - the LED indicator let’s you know what your camera is doing.

  • Get creative - the remote shutter input works with any analog switch, so you can wire it up to anything you want to control the camera.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in, please check out our website, www.poalabs.com and sign up for our mailing list to stay updated on our upcoming Kickstarter launch (next week on Tuesday, June 14th).

Thanks for letting me tell you about my project!

Cheers,

Zac

(GoHawk Creator)

P.S. - I hope I’m not breaking any forum rules by telling you about this. I’m really trying to get support to make this product a reality for those of you who, like me, have been waiting for something like this. This entire project has been bootstrapped with rent money over the last year so I don’t exactly have the funds for mountains of paid advertising. Last week my friend said “It's the accessory that GoPros have needed since they came out." I completely agree and I’m betting some of you will appreciate knowing about it.

gohawk02.jpg
 
This is really cool. I can see how this would be awesome to have for just about any time of adventure. I would definitely use one on my rides if I had better scenery to look at, but one of these days when I move back into the hills and mountains it may be one of my first investments. My brother took a GoPro on a motorcycle ride from Southern California to Alaska. It was cool to watch the different types of scenery that he was able to witness.
 
This is really cool. I can see how this would be awesome to have for just about any time of adventure. I would definitely use one on my rides if I had better scenery to look at, but one of these days when I move back into the hills and mountains it may be one of my first investments. My brother took a GoPro on a motorcycle ride from Southern California to Alaska. It was cool to watch the different types of scenery that he was able to witness.

Glad you think it's cool! Bike touring is actually one of the big applications I had in mind, especially since you could plug in an extra USB battery pack and just leave the camera on during the whole ride, only snapping pictures when you want to. Plus, since it's a quick+easy handlebar shutter button, you can also take pictures immediately if any sort of incident or close call occurs, like an aggressive/illegal driver (get their plates!).
 
That's so cool!How long did it take you to finish this project? I would definitely use it,it seems really cool for biking trips.It's amazing how technology has come and how we've advanced with filming our little journeys and work outs.I'll take a look at the kick starter and contribute with some funding.Hope you can achieve success with your new product,it seems a really good idea.
 
@jonthai, I've been working on this for about 10 months, maybe a year if we're going back to napkin sketches and searching for someone who already made something similar (I really wanted it, but it turned out it didn't exist yet).

So glad you think it's cool, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have :) And thanks for your support!
 
This is one of the very few 'ideas' I've seen promoted on this forum that is actually...BRILLIANT!

Good luck
 
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Wow, that's pretty sweet :) Are you naturally crafty, like do you do this sort of thing for a living? A lot of great inventions were made by people doing exactly what you're doing now, probably one of the most reliable ways to secure financial freedom is to create something that doesnt exist yet that a lot of people want.
 
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This is one of the very few 'ideas' I've seen promoted on this forum that is actually...BRILLIANT!

Good luck

Thanks for the support! There has been some naysaying from people who don't "get it" so it's really refreshing to hear positive words from people who actually see the usefulness of the product. :)
 
Wow, that's pretty sweet :) Are you naturally crafty, like do you do this sort of thing for a living? A lot of great inventions were made by people doing exactly what you're doing now, probably one of the most reliable ways to secure financial freedom is to create something that doesnt exist yet that a lot of people want.

I'm one of those kids that was always taking apart the VCR and putting it back together, so I guess it's in my blood? As a grown-up I've fallen into the product design/engineering niche so this was up my alley. This whole project really came about because I knew exactly what I wanted for myself as a GoPro accessory but couldn't find it for sale anywhere - which really surprised me. I'm hoping everything works out so I can continue to develop neat new things :)
 

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