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"I was so frustrated with my regular optical binoculars - first you have to align the two barrels to the width of your eyes, then you have to focus with the center focusing flywheel, finally you have to focus the individual diopter. What a long and tiresome process! I usually end up just squinting through one barrel. My binoculars have just become a telescope!" Does this sound familiar?
I set about developing an entirely new type of binocular to solve this problem.
In 1996 shortly after the birth of my second child, I knew I needed to upgrade my video camera. While reviewing the latest models at the local electronics store, I noticed that the newer models had recently added the small flip-out TFT-LCD view screen for you to look at while recording. Also, the small motorized zoom lens went from a small optical magnification of around 4x and had jumped in magnification power and added digital enlargement as well. All of a sudden the lenses had optical zooms of 16x or larger with digital magnification to 160x or more!
I had that light bulb moment. I thought to myself, "Why not have a pair of binoculars that utilize those two main components as the imaging source?" The user controls a small motorized zoom camera and the image is fed to one small tv screen that is viewable by both eyes. Auto focus and great zoom at the touch of one small button!
After reviewing the US Patent & Trademark Office database, I built the first prototype you see in the upper left. It does not look very pretty but it was and still is fully functional. I then filed a patent application on October 22, 1999. After much correspondence with the USPTO, the patent was finally issued on April 27, 2004 as Patent # 6,728,030. Click here to see the first page of the patent.
With patent in hand, I set about the task of moving from prototype to actual production. I hired electronic and mechanical engineers and many months later, have a product that leap frogs regular optical binoculars. More than several hundred prototypes later I was at last able to launch the patented Digiviewer Digital Binoculars, the first real digital binoculars. The Sightwave Optics Digiviewer Digital Binoculars were officially launched at the PMA Trade Show in Orlando, Florida February 19, 2005. Click here to see the press release.
Thanks for checking out the Sightwave Optics Digiviewer Digital Binoculars and this web site.
Thank you,
David Bellefuil
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