The Journey . . . J-View Action Camera Mount Design

In 2011, I purchased a GoPro Hero (and a helmet) and began my journey into POV camera capture. The previous several years I carried a variety of Sony or Cannon Digital Hi8 cameras to capture video of my friends and family from back East skiing Utah powder. I created a little feature movie each year to premier when I went back to Rochester, New York to visit family in the summer. I even purchased a VCR editing deck and titler to add music and titles to my little productions. A ton of work went into those productions but I loved it and everyone enjoyed how I made them look good (mostly) in these films. The problem was that I was one of the best skiers of the bunch and I had to beg my family and friends to film me on occasion so I could be in the production. When the GoPro Hero came out I decided to get one to film myself skiing. I wouldn't have to rely on someone else to capture my graceful powder skiing.

After a few trips into the backcountry capturing video from my new helmet I began to realize that although it looked pretty cool, really those could have been anyone's ski tips and hands shredding powder in that 1st person perspective. I'm a pretty good skier but I'm not Candide Thovex so watching my skis windshield wiper through powder grew a bit tiresome. So in April 2011, I rigged an old ski pole to my pack and fixed a camera mount on it and my journey to create a 3rd person mount began. I hucked a cornice on Over Easy in Silver Fork Canyon on April 4, 2011 skiing an untracked line down through the steep trees below and posted a YT video on April 6, 2011 of the footage from that day . . .  https://youtu.be/BAMuuE2VBXg.

I knew I was onto something and in the coming months I continued to tweak my design adding a horizontal boom which I used in the 2012 ski season capturing some really interesting perspectives. I even found and contacted Garrett Brown who invented the Steadi Cam (first used in Rocky) and sent him some clips of my skiing. He responded! I was hoping to get some ideas on stabilization. His reply was humbling but the catalyst to keep on going. He though the video was difficult to watch as the horizon flipped back and forth in the video since the camera tilted back and forth as I made turns. But he also made me aware of the gimbals that would be released in the next couple of years that would help stabilize that effect.

About the same time I contacted a fellow RIT engineering grad who had an industrial design company in Rochester and asked him to help me conceptualize a design that wasn't made of old ski poles, hose clamps and socket rachet handles. In December of 2012 I had my first wearable mount prototype v1. I was able to bring it to Florida for a trip there kayaking the Estero River and then had the 2013 ski season to play with it. I used it with two newer Hero 3 cameras mounted simultaneously for skiing and continued into the climbing season. I felt good enough about the progress to file for a US patent in 2013.

In January 2014, I improved the design for stability and adjustability and had my v2 prototype built. You could rotate the cameras on a puck with a rod going through it and lock the position with a cam. I often used it with two cameras to get forward and rearward perspective that I could lace together in editing which was now done on my iMac with iMovie. (Kind of what a 360 camera does today) 

The next big jump in stability came in January 2015 when those gimbals that Garrett Brown told me about were now available. Now I was skiing with two cameras on my mount each with a gimbal. The horizon stayed level and the video became much more watchable. In April 2015 I posted a video skiing with this configuration down Alta's Baldy Main Chute which I posted on my YT channel and that remains to this day my most watched and commented on video for the channel. . . . . https://youtu.be/E896640_m6Q. 

I sent a copy of that video to Todd Jones at Teton Gravity Research and he put me in touch with his camera equipment guys which prompted a visit to Jackson to meet with them and hand over a couple prototypes. I thought I was on my way now!  Unfortunately, one of the guys took it mountain biking and commented that the stalk that holds the camera kept hitting him in the helmet. I made the mistake of assuming they would figure out how best to use it but they did not. They also used only Sony action cameras and there was no gimbal for them yet. In 2015 my son Julius was having some serious medical issues that led to getting a tracheostomy in early 2016 so my opportunity to work with TGR lost steam and  evaporated. I assume those prototypes are still collecting dust in a gear closet at TGR.

The patent was approved in December 2015 and undeterred I did one more  iteration on design and prototyping (v3) in early 2016. This new design brought the cool honeycomb frame look and further improved stability. Life's challenges continued however and I essentially had the most expensive one off camera mount in history having spent about $30k in design and patent costs. I continued to use it and learn while camera technology and gimbals continued to improve. I used it to capture video on solo ski tours and posted more videos. 

In 2018 I purchased my first 360 camera. A Rylo. The first time I mounted that behind me skiing through some trees and came home and watched that I saw the magic of the invisible mount. It looked like I had a personal drone floating over my shoulder! This was a game changer. In terms of my business I had too many challenges in my real life with my son and work to focus on or spend money on development so 2018 and 2019 passed with little progress to bring a product to market but I kept using and learning. At the end of 2019 I had to decide whether to spend the $1000 to re-up my patent. It was not an easy decision as I didn't have a lot of extra cash but I couldn't let the dream go just yet.

Then came 2020. The year none of us will forget. I was furloughed and then released from my long time employer Eastman Kodak and found myself unemployed. I saw a notice for the Grow Utah Winter 2020 RAMP program and applied to be a cohort. I was accepted for the J-View Mount! The program and its mentors and resources taught me how to structure a business. The experience was amazing and invaluable. In a year when life as we knew it was turned upside down I was given the opportunity to add fuel to my dream and finally bring this to the market. My market research told me the time was right to make this work.  

Today I have a highly refined and versatile mounting platform that is truly the first of it's kind. This in conjunction with cameras like the GoPro Max, GoPro Hero 9 with Max Lens, Insta 360, Ricoh and Sony 360's bring a truly unique perspective to your favorite activities. There are other designs that have come and gone over the last 10 years and 3D printing has even allowed an updated version of an old design that do-it-yourselfers were building years ago and stuffing in their packs. No other design can be worn on the body for activities where you don't wear a pack but will also lash onto the back of a variety of packs or even fit into your pack for activities like backcountry skiing. Backcountry skiing was the genesis for my development of the J-View mount but I have used it over the years climbing, canyoneering, rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, SUP'ing, scrambling, and hiking while others have tested it skiing, ice skating, running, skate boarding the streets and in skate parks on a variety of wheels. I even used it to capture a walk through the streets and on the canals of Venice. 

My next blog will answer the question . . . "What is J-View"?