It's not often a Kickstarter project comes up where it's based on Arduino, but not an actual prototyping board. When they do, it's usually a novel idea, that takes an expensive item, and makes it inexpensive, or is a completely new and revolutionary idea. Zcapture is a bit of both, in that it helps manufactures and retailers create 360° images of their products. Not a panoramic image though, a rotatable look at the item from all angles.
Zcapture is essentially a rotating platter, that can connect to your SLR camera and automatically take images and stitch them together. The whole process is automated, and does not require a connection to a computer. If you have a Canon or Nikon camera, it will work out of the box, but it supports most cameras that support an external shutter control.
Hopefully, eCommerce stores will start to use this, as it adds so much more to a product when you can see it from all angles. There's nothing worse when looking at an item, to see a couple of images that don't show what you really want to see. Although the price might be a bit out of the average user's league, it couple be helpful if you sell a lot on sites such as eBay, as it gives your customer a special look at the item.
The specially designed Zcapture software helps create a professional looking image. It has Photoshop-esque features, such as brightness, contrast and RGB level adjustment, and comes with a lifetime of free updates.
At $480 for the fully assembled, ready to run Zcapture, its not exactly cheap, but for an eCommerce site, this could easily be made back with the extra sales created by having a top-notch 360° image of the product. A $150 'mini' version is also available for hobbyists and enthusiasts.
The Kickstarter campaign is looking for $46,000 to reach its target, and in you pledge the amount for a Zcapture, it is expected to be with you by the end of the year.
The Kickstarted campaign was cancelled, and a new project with a smaller goal of $14,000 was started. You can now buy the Zcapture at the Zcapture store.