2017 — skop
next gen microscope
Can a microscope be modernized for the next generation of explorers? Back in the days a microscope was a ne plus ultra gift for every kid, today the world wide web provides all the desired images and a self-initiated microscoping seems needless. The challenge for my bachelor thesis was to rethink the common architecture of a microscope and create an affordable, yet high quality, digitalized system to adress a younger audience.
project: Design Thesis
High quality microscope. Miniaturized. Connected. skop connects digital advantages with an optical system to achieve great results way more simply and faster. A built-in APS-C Sensor allows to capture high-res pictures and share them. skop can be used as a mobile instrument or stationary at home. Outdoors a LED ring light provides a controllable illumination source and skop works like an incident light microscope. Attached to a desk station the user can explore in transmitted light mode.
stand-alone mode
MACRO
2-50X
Connected Mode
MACRO +
20-100X
Discovery Mode
MICRO
80-400X
Life is an adventure. Keep exploring. Wherever you are. Because of it's compact architecture skop can brought everywhere. In stand-alone mode an OLED electronic view finder provides crisp images. Without the additional use of any other device it is possible to adjust settings on board and easily capture pictures by pushing the shutter button. Aperture, shutter speed and light intensity can be finetuned manually or get automatized to achieve great results.
Innovation approach. To fundamentally rethink such a traditional product as a microscope intense user journeys were necessary to define new, digitalized use cases. The whole idea of exploring together and having a modular system was born during this process.
Connected to a smartphone the display turns into a large viewfinder and enables full control on the connected device. For outdoors the microscope is attached to a foldable tripod. Precisely the settings can be adjusted on the display and viewed in real time. Of course every moment can be captured in a picture or video. Editing and uploading the image to share it with friends or the skop community is part of the full user experience
Connected Mode.
Discovery Mode. For the ultimate level of exploring skop can be attached to a desktop station. Samples can be analyzed in transmitted light mode and the user can dive into an entirely new world. An additional application on smartphone or laptop will help to detect unknown structures and organisms with the help of an enormous data base and AR technology.
Visuals: julian sommer, © Julian Sommer