
Go Pro on a soaring eagle [video] - pccampbell
http://kottke.org/13/09/go-pro-on-a-soaring-eagle
======
aresant
When I got my Oculus dev kit I was most excited about the potential for
designing interactive experiences driven by unity / 3d graphics.

Then I checked out a "wingsuit" video shot in 360 degrees and realized I had
completely missed the potential of the platform:

[http://www.makingview.com/makingview.com/?page_id=1691](http://www.makingview.com/makingview.com/?page_id=1691)

The resolution is mediocre but for a first-gen experience in VR I was
literally floored. I showed these demos to some unwitting subjects and where
riftcoaster was "WOW" the 360 video had their mouths hanging open.

And this isn't speculative or crazy expensive - 360 riggings + cameras can be
had for <$2k and here are lots of interesting experiences already popping up.

Rigging:

[http://www.360heros.com/](http://www.360heros.com/) or
[http://freedom360.us/](http://freedom360.us/)

Demos:

[http://immersivemedia.com/demos/](http://immersivemedia.com/demos/)

[http://www.airpano.com/360-videos.php](http://www.airpano.com/360-videos.php)

~~~
mentos
Have you been able to view a 360 demo in the rift? I'd imagine not considering
360 demos are not captured stereo-graphically?

~~~
corysama
I have viewed 360 vids on the Rift. It's true they are not stereo, but they
are still very effective. Simply being able to turn your head an look around
is a significant aspect of presence.

These two vids [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN7HtvXc-
Bo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN7HtvXc-Bo)
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4iltd0wMlU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4iltd0wMlU)
played through [http://vrplayer.codeplex.com/](http://vrplayer.codeplex.com/)
are great examples.

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Lewton
I'd watch a 4 hour movie of this, i was so disappointed when the video stopped

~~~
at-fates-hands
Agreed. The scenery in that part of the world is breathless and no better way
to see it then on the back of this beautiful animal.

Incredible.

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daddykotex
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-_RHRAzUHM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-_RHRAzUHM)

Enjoy!

~~~
maxerickson
The Kottke via link also has a link to a Perigrine Falcon hunting a duck:

[http://kottke.org/13/05/peregrine-falcon-killing-a-duck-
in-m...](http://kottke.org/13/05/peregrine-falcon-killing-a-duck-in-mid-air)

or

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W6lD7re2Po](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W6lD7re2Po)

The camera mounting makes it a little tiresome to watch but doesn't really
make it less interesting.

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iliis
Ah, this is just beautiful.

There's a whole community flying model airplanes trough a camera and video
goggles: [http://vimeo.com/16604842](http://vimeo.com/16604842)

~~~
Florin_Andrei
Is there a forum where tech info on this topic is discussed?

~~~
JshWright
It's called 'FPV' (first person view), and google searches for "RC FPV" and
"FPV flying" should be fruitful.

[http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/index.php](http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/index.php)
has an FPV section (and the rest of the RC stuff is obviously still relevant).

I'd also suggest a couple YouTube channels. Both FliteTest and RCModelReviews
have numerous videos covering various aspects of the RC and FPV hobby.

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heyitsnick
The first time I saw this was Human Planet, in an episode about Kazakh hunters
training Golden Eagles to hunt foxes for them:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y3Dl0BGFfw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y3Dl0BGFfw)

The extras part of the documentary includes a behind-the-scenes look at
getting the birds-eye shot.

~~~
anishkothari
There is a series on PBS in the US called Earthflight. It's breathtaking:
[http://schedule.wttw.com/series/20052/Earthflight-A-
Nature-S...](http://schedule.wttw.com/series/20052/Earthflight-A-Nature-
Special-Presentation/)

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eumenides1
So this is what being Gandalf feels like.

~~~
MarkNederhoed
Spies of Saruman! The passage South is being watched.

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joshaidan
I wish they would have shown the eagle landing, that would have been
interesting to see.

~~~
erikig
I agree, it would also have been nice if it was possible to mount the camera a
little further back to see some of the wing action particularly when changing
direction or avoiding obstacles like the tree.

Excellent nonetheless, very reminiscent of base jumper Jeb Corliss' \-
Grinding the Crack
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWfph3iNC-k](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWfph3iNC-k)
(1:35-1:45 of the video gets me everytime)

~~~
cromulent
Yeah, there's humans flying like this too :)

There's some great proximity basejump wingsuit footage out there, the sport is
developing quickly. Try this one:

[https://vimeo.com/71960552](https://vimeo.com/71960552)

------
matthewmcg
Very cool! The eagle appears to be using the ridge lift generated by wind
coming up that slope very effectively.

~~~
mberning
Yes, it was very impressive to see just how little flapping was involved.

------
booop
Looks like it's time to fire up Unity and make an eagle hunting sim.

~~~
pointernil
It is not only eagles ;)
[http://www.reddit.com/r/gamingsuggestions/comments/1edfwh/ow...](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamingsuggestions/comments/1edfwh/owls_eagles_crows_and_other_top_notch_masters_of/)
... and yes creating a flying sim based on abilities of those masters of the
skies in the wild would make for an epic game... i believe.

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leeoniya
is there anything that suggests this is an actual GoPro?

i own several of them and i'd imagine that because of the way they have to be
mounted, their width and frontal surface area would impede flying quite
significantly.

i'm inclined to think it's a more slender camera, like the Contour.
[http://store.contour.com/ae/us/page/home](http://store.contour.com/ae/us/page/home)

GoPro goes way overboard with their marketing; they've become the Kleenex of
action cams.

~~~
wmeredith
Yeah, Midland Radio (no affiliation) also makes a slimmer action camera called
the XTC: [https://midlandusa.com/xtc-cameras/](https://midlandusa.com/xtc-
cameras/)

GoPro's brand definitely doing that Kleenex thing where it's just the word for
a small tough camera.

~~~
chch
For those curious, the word for the phenomenon is 'genericization'[1], though
I am particularly fond of the more colorful synonym 'genericide'[2], even if
it's a bit etymologically unsound.

For an example of attempts at prevention, see [3], and remember, images aren't
'photoshopped', they're "enhanced with Adobe® Photoshop® Elements software.".
:)

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark)

[2] [http://www.legalzoom.com/intellectual-property-
rights/tradem...](http://www.legalzoom.com/intellectual-property-
rights/trademarks/problem-genericide)

[3]
[http://www.adobe.com/legal/permissions/trademarks.html#photo...](http://www.adobe.com/legal/permissions/trademarks.html#photoshoptrademark)

------
louthy
As an ex-games developer it reminded me of flying around a level editor with a
fixed forward speed and using a mouse for orientation.

Maybe that's just me!

~~~
jonahx
Reminds me of the time I was watching my cat and had a sudden revelation: The
fur and flesh over his skeleton and organs is just like "skinning" a basic web
page with CSS styles.

A second later I was like...

"doublefacepalm.jpg"

------
gadders
I'd quite like to see what it looks like with the visual acuity of an eagle as
well. Or at least some representation. EG where we see blobs of colour as cars
in a car park, the eagle sees the mouse under the front bumper of the red one.

~~~
wmeredith
I'd like to see some facsimile of this as well. Googling a bit unearthed this
description of what it might look like:

"Eagles and hawks are neither near sighted nor far-sighted. Since long focal
length lenses have a narrow angle of view, they have poor peripheral vision.
Hawks and eagles have to turn their heads to see more of their surroundings.
They can turn their heads 180 degrees, not quite as much as the owls, which
can turn their heads 270 degrees. In contrast, human eyes have a short focal
length, so we have a wider angle of view, nearly 180 degrees horizontally, so
we don't have to turn our heads unless we need to look behind us, but we don't
see as much detail as hawks can when something is far away..." Source:
[http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2011011108374...](http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110111083744AA4QFvZ)

So it would be a representation of a much longer focal length with a much
narrower field of vision.

Related fun fact: Owl's don't have eyballs they have eyetubes. They can't
rotate their eyes in their sockets at all, which is why they can turn their
head ~270 degrees, and why they have such an incredibly long focal length.

------
hadronzoo
Earthflight has similarly beautiful footage:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIKnol2i850](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIKnol2i850)

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ffrryuu
At the end, they shot the eagle to retrieve the camera.

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nkurz
It's done as an a animation, but here's a similar video from the point-of-view
of a kiwi bird:

[http://cliffpavlovic.com/2007/04/kiwi-an-animated-
short/](http://cliffpavlovic.com/2007/04/kiwi-an-animated-short/)

Animation or not, it may be the most poignant short film that I've ever seen.

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kevinbowman
I'm guessing it was a tamed eagle or something like that? Very impressive,
though, nonetheless.

~~~
matthewmcg
Yes, likely a bird kept for falconry.

~~~
jeswin
The present king of Saudi was a falconer. Interesting pic:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:King_Abdullah_in_his_youth...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:King_Abdullah_in_his_youth.jpg)

------
wingo
They play this video while you wait for the train to take you up to that
glacier (the mer de glace). I stared at it gapemouthed for some time!

------
zoner
This is like paragliding :) But without the hassle of collapses, material
problems and a wee bit faster.

~~~
clueless123
exactly like paragliding..
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zr6gf1OejE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zr6gf1OejE)

Ps. If you fly laminar air from the ocean there are hardly any collapses,
regarding speed ~ 40kmh

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Ozark
what is this reddit?

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applecore
How did they retrieve the camera?

~~~
brbcoding
That's what I was wondering... I'd assume it's a trained eagle. Wouldn't want
the eagle to be stuck with a camera on it's back.

~~~
maxerickson
I would expect a wild eagle to either avoid the people more or to make a
bigger fuss about them. This one flies over them for fun (or so).

~~~
Shivetya
pattern matching maybe? I would assume he can recognize his handlers by sight
and checks out all of those he passes just in case they moved from where he
took off from?

that or he saw lots of tasty little critters about

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Ethan_Mick
I'm a little terrified as to how close to the trees it got.

~~~
louthy
It's had lots of practice, don't worry ;)

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benjamta
Fantastic - quite some speed it's got there.

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seanschade
This was well worth watching!

------
stigi
I wish I had an eagle

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pwenzel
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' Into the future

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kevando
Oh, you know. Just a GoPro on an eagle...

------
mentos
Glorious.

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d0m
reminds me Ocarina Of Time

