The France-based team behind the Visio was keen to overcome limitations found with many of today’s projectors, including their high cost, physical fragility, high energy consumption, and large size.
Aiming “to bring still projection out of the shadow of animated projection,” the device projects photo slides onto potentially enormous surfaces, offering quality beyond that of 4K digital projection.
You can pop regular 35mm slides into the device’s holder, including of course digital images converted to slides. Yes, most people want the opposite these days, but professional services do exist for such a conversion.
The Visio’s key components are a 35mm lens, and the LED 1500-lumens projector light. Between the lens and the light are a series of mounts and rings, and also the slide holder, which combine to create one complete unit.
The device, which weighs just 2.2 pounds (1 kg) and runs for three hours on a single charge, could appeal to artists interested in creating outdoor installations or as a way of showing off work already completed. As well as imagery, you can also scratch text onto darkened glass slides to project messages or other kinds of artwork.
“We aim to convey the pleasure of photo-projection to picture lovers,” the team behind Visio says. “This practice consists in combining a projected picture onto a support to allow the expression of an idea, a message, a representation.”
All of the components are already available in stores, but the team have turned to Kickstarter for help with building the all-important slide-holder ring. They also want to be able to offer a device that’s ready to use out of the box, as well as one you can build yourself, confident in the knowledge that you have all the necessary parts. “While these items are standard, they can have different designs that create problems to fit together,” the startup explains. “That’s why we want to provide a perfectly compatible set of items selected and checked.”
The good news is that the team has just hit their funding target, suggesting it’s on course to fulfill its promise of an October, 2017, shipping date.
If you don’t already have lenses of your own, the team will include one of two lenses — either a Yongnuo 50mm model ideal for indoor and short-distance projection, or a Kelda 85mm model ideal for outdoor and long-distance projection.
Pre-ordering the Yonguno kit will set you back 379 euros ($425), while the Kelda package costs 429 euros ($480). A no-lens option that offers a choice of mounts (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, etc.) costs 289 euros ($320), while an unbuilt kit (without lens) is going for 269 euros ($300).
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