About

Background

The ExtendaPic case started out as an idea this past summer as I traveled with my wife in Alaska and Canada. It was in answer to a universal problem with a greatly needed solution.

Whistler Resort, BC Canada

We had our SLR camera with us but found ourselves primarily using our iPhones to capture pictures and videos of the great sites we visited; it was just more convenient. Ideally, we prefer to both be in the pictures of the places we visit, as it adds value to the memory. At tourist locations there were other people there to take our picture, but as usual, it was a little awkward to ask others to take our photo, especially if they appeared busy.

Lonely shot with Alaskan Glacier

Other times, we found ourselves hiking alone or with no one there to take our picture. As a result, we resorted to taking solo pictures of each other or when we did attempt a picture together, ended up doing the classic "selfie" at arms length. The resulting photos, as is most often the case, were less than ideal as our faces that were stretched, cut off, or double chinned, arms were in the way, we had generally unnatural poses, and the object we were trying to capture in the background ended up obscured by our head(s).

The root of the problem? Arms are just too short to take ideal self portraits.

At one point in our travels, my wife echoed my own thoughts when she said "Your head keeps getting in the way, I wish we could just stick the camera out a little further so we could see more of the background."

I took the comment as a challenge and after 9 months of design and modeling, today we present the ExtendaPic case.

Self Photography Re-imagined

Beautifully simple in function, the ExtendaPic case is designed for the perfection of portable self photography and videos.

ExtendaPic Prototype v.3

By embedding an extendable arm inside the phone case, anyone can not only catch the moment, but readily and easily place themselves in that moment. Depending on your arm length, you can get over double the capture area in your photos!

You no longer need to ask for help to take self portraits. When traveling, out walking, hiking, or simply experiencing life you can easily place yourself in those moments and locations with plenty of room for a friend, significant other, or even a small group of friends. No more designated photo taker (DPT) required!

Normal Selfie vs ExtendaPic

The telescoping arm allows the user to extend the phone to the front, side, down low or overhead for a bird's eye view.

Selfie vs ExtendaPic bird's eye view

The extended phone can be easily configured with the camera facing forward or backward, portrait or landscape to use the front or rear facing camera. The simple mechanism built into the case allows the user to lock the phone at any desired angle to capture the photo.

The telescoping arm can also be used as a kickstand for your iPhone. This can be configured at most angles as well. This function allows you to take photos from even farther away using a remote trigger, headphones, or timer.

Kickstand in landscape configuration

Kickstand in portrait configuration

The ExtendaPic case is the perfect companion for the iPhone. It provides unprecedented function and value that compliments the iPhone's advanced camera features allowing virtually unlimited photo creativity and freedom for the user.

Product Description

The ExtendaPic shown in blue is the final prototype made with a Polyjet 3D printer. This kickstarter campaign will provide us with the funds needed to get the injection molds created necessary for mass production. The production version of the case that you will receive for any pledge of $30 or more will be almost identical in shape to the blue model shown, but manufactured with a high quality impact-dissipating black Polycarbonate polymer designed to protect your iPhone from those accidental drops. A realistic CAD model of the first edition case can be found on our website. This first model will form fit the iPhone 5 and 5s. The phone snaps in easily and securely.

The case has a built-in stainless steel telescoping rod that stores in a small chamber on the right side of the case. Your contributions will allow us to create a custom extension rod designed for strength and maximize extension. The finish on the rod will be black. When fully extended the rod allows the user to extend out the phone a little over 14 inches (about 36cm) from their hand and lock the camera position facing in any direction desired enabling use of the front or rear facing cameras in both portrait and landscape modes.

How to capture Photos using ExtendaPic

Photos are captured in one of three ways:

Method 1: self-timer

Many 3rd party Camera Apps (like Camera+) have customized self timers. As of yet, the iPhone's default camera does not have this function

Method 2: Apple headphones or any headphone with volume control buttons, or 3rd Party wired trigger

The apple headphones' built-in volume buttons can be used to trigger the camera shutter. Just plug them into the headphones port, extend your phone for the photo, and click on the + or - to take photos as desired or hold down the button to take rapid fire photos.

Method 3: wireless trigger via Bluetooth trigger

There are many 3rd party Bluetooth photo triggers available today:

ipega & Shuttr are a couple of many options found on Amazon. I've tested them and they work fantastic. They work with both iPhones and Android devices. They are small and unobtrusive and can attach to your keys. Holding the trigger button down will even send the rapid fire signal to the phone to take multiple photos at once on both the iPhone 5 and 5s-- with enhanced speed on the 5s.

Design and Progress

Initially we were thinking of just having an external attachment extension device that would attach to the case when needed. In researching, we actually found a few products (mostly made in china) that you could attach to the phone to extend it. We decided, however, that carrying around a bulky stick was impractical for daily use and not ideal under any circumstance.

So the challenge became to embed extension functionality into the case itself. After 9 months, 7 designs and 3 prototypes, we not only figured it out, but nailed it. As such, we filed for the patent.

We started with the iPhone 4s as our first model.

Early CAD model of ExtendaPic iPhone 4s

We decided early on that we wanted to go for a minimalist design and have the extension device take up as little room as possible. To accomplish this, we had some challenges to surmount. First, was it even possible to fit an extension rod in the case yet keep the case small enough to still be attractive and functional? Secondly, we needed to determine if this small extension rod would be strong enough to safely hold the phone. Lastly, we needed to determine if the length of this rod would be long enough to make pictures that were significantly better when compared to the normal selfie. We researched rod manufacturers were able to get samples of various sizes and thicknesses to test with our initial prototype.

Another design challenge was determining just how to mount the extendable rod to the case and still maintain full functionality of the device. We determined that mounting the rod on the right side would allow for maximizing the length of the rod as well as minimizing additional size to the case. The thickness of the case remained unchanged and after picking an appropriate rod size, were able to design the case to be only 10mm wider than a basic iPhone case.

The next challenge was to determine how to connect the rod to the case so as to maximize extended length, yet securely hold the phone at the desired angle to take pictures. The mechanism needed to be able to adjust to any angle and thereby lock the phone at that angle to use with front and rear facing cameras. We also wanted to be able to extend the phone in both portrait and landscape orientations.

Early sketch of lock mechanism

In design, often the best solution is the simplest, so after a few iterations, we came up with a gear lock design that not only allows the user to simply and easily lock the orientation at varying angles, but also prohibits the extension rod from accidentally detaching from the case.

The next step was to build a prototype. We decided to upgrade the model to the iPhone 5/5s at this time and in doing so we simplified the design and slimmed down the body as much as possible.

ExtendaPic iPhone 5/5s model v.1

The first prototype had a few issues with the rod mechanism and phone not fitting perfectly. We addressed these issues and ordered a 2nd prototype that fit perfectly and allowed us for the first time to take some extended pictures.

ExtendaPic iPhone 5/5s prototype 2 with misc parts

One of the first selfies taken with the Extendapic case

We were excited to finally have a working model and learned a lot from it. Primarily we learned that the location of the rod exit was functional, but not ideal. We then redesigned the model based on those lessons learned and that redesign resulted in the final prototype you see here on Kickstarter.

ExtendaPic iPhone 5/5s 3D rapid prototype 3

The ExtendaPic iPhone 5/5s Case Prototype v.3

We are elated with the final results! The months of design truly paid off. The case fits perfectly on the iPhone 5 and 5s models, the arm is easy to extend, the gear lock secures the phone at the user's desired angle, and it is easy and comfortable to hold when extended. Even my kids enjoy using it.

Using the ExtendaPic iPhone 5/5s

Now we just need your help to make the ExtendaPic case a reality. We will use the funds from this campaign to manufacture the First Edition ExtendaPic. Specifically, we will use your funds to create the injection molds, the custom designed extension rods, and pay for all of the parts, assembly and product fulfillment. Photorealistic CAD models of the black First Edition ExtendaPic iPhone 5/5s case can be found at our website.