Besides the scientists, journalists and educators, Global Connections aims to put Gigapans in the hands of everyday users and hobbyists. Rich LeGrand of Charmed Labs related, “Gigapan started as an educational project, and it still is, but it has applications outside of education, as well.” Charmed Labs distributed nearly 300 units, at $279 per device, during its 10-week beta test. “We are still selecting beta users and sending beta units,” LeGrand explained. “We have about 50 left to distribute even though we are no longer accepting beta applications … The future looks good based on the enthusiasm that we’ve seen. We are overrun with e-mails and phone calls, something we aren’t very accustomed to.” While the engineering of the Gigapan took place at CMU, Charmed Labs was charged with the actual design of the unit. “We are a small company. Low-cost, consumer-oriented design requires a lot of upfront design and tooling costs. We were challenged in this regard, trying to get the upfront money for this. CMU helped some.”

Gigapan robotic camera mount.

Tomokiyo joked about a conversation with a photographer on the pricing of the Gigapan, “He said, ’you guys need to sell this for thousands of dollars.’ But that’s not the point.” Although only 300 Gigapans were planned for distribution, Tomokiyo said that “over a thousand people have signed up to receive one.” With such interest, Charmed Labs and CMU were forced to make decisions on who would receive a unit to test during beta.

“We have chosen based mostly on enthusiasm for the Gigapan,” LeGrand said. “We want our beta users to use the heck out of the Gigapan, [and] then give us their honest feedback.” Tomokiyo added, “Yes, we’re interested in prize-winning photography, but we also want amateurs.”

The Gigapan, per LeGrand, is currently in a “major design revision,” and the final units won’t be available for retail sale before the end of the year, but would sell for less than $400. “A Gigapan image is a big picture, sure, but you don’t just look at a Gigapan,” LeGrand said, “You explore it and interact with it. I think it’s a new medium and we’ll find new applications for it. The fact that the hardware and software make a Gigapan image cheap enough for the regular consumer is exciting — it expands our ability to make an impact with the medium. We’ve got lots of work to do, but it’s all very exciting.”