$28 camera

  I was reading one of my google groups and someone posted this cool article on a $28 digital camera.  The camera looks like a retro camera but is only 6 mm thick and made of paper.

You read that correctly, its made out of paper but according to the report, it does so many things.  It can take pictures, videos, and voice recordings.

It comes with an on/off switch, different modes, a 16 GB micro SD card slot, an LED light signalling which mode is active, and a USB cord for transferring videos, photos,, and voice recordings plus the cord can be used to charge the built in battery.   It is so cool.  Just think of the possibilities for a school.

Imagine buying 10 cameras for your classroom for a  cost of $280. There are possible uses for the math classroom.

1.  I could send students out into the village to take photos of real life math examples such as intersections, perpendicular bisectors, right angles, or so many other things.  When the students are down, they return to the classroom and download the photos and create a video complete with voice over.

2.  Students could record each other reading a report on a mathematician,  poetry they created,  ir perhaps even a newscast on real life examples of math seen every day.

3.  What about creating a video inwhich they teach a lesson or explain how to do something mathematical.  Once the video is recorded it could be downloaded and edited.

4.  Create a commercial to sell a mathematical concept with all the information on it.  Perhaps even showing the real life uses of the it.

The advantage to this camera is the low cost so if the camera is lost or damaged, it is not a big loss.  In addition, it offers so much for the price.  The SD micro card is going to cost around $8 to 10 to buy but still the whole cost is quite low.

The disadvantage is that the photo and video quality is not necessarily the best but that would be a trade off. The biggest disadvantage is that it is only being sold in Japan at the moment.  Chances are if it is imported to the United States, the cost will be increased but that may be a while yet.  It is always nice to dream and drool.