HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-08-31, Page 13Clinton highschoolers make
huge splash into tech world
Three C.H.S.S.
students create
action camera
which gives
GoPro a run
for its money
Justine Alkema
Postmedia Network
You won't believe what
three highshcoolers in Clin-
ton have been up to for the
past year. Local teenagers
Kevin Song, William Sun
and Chris Wong have
invented a high-end action
camera which is very simi-
lar to a GoPro and are sell-
ing it for a small fraction of
the price.
It sounds crazy, but it's
true. The three boys are all
going to grade 10 at C.H.S.S.
this year. Last summer, their
school recommended that
they attend a high school
entrepreneurship program
at M.I.T. called M.I.T.
Launch.
During the program, the
three locals met two teens
from British Columbia
named Danny Hu and
Ethan Ng. The five hit it off
and became business part-
ners. As a team, they began
brainstorming business
ideas.
When they started coming
up with ideas, they weren't
necessarily thinking of creat-
ing a camera. They were
interested in technology and
were hoping to create some-
thing, but they had a lot of
ideas.
"We put all of our ideas
together," said Song, the
team's marketing officer,
"and this is what came
out."
What came out is a high
end action camera called
VOLT X camera. VOLT X has
all the same specs of the
GoPro but has 16 megapixels
instead of 12, is almost half
as light and charges in 30
minutes instead of two
hours.
"I do have an action cam-
era," said Song. "It's not a
GoPro; it's a cheaper ver-
sion, and it's not as good.
Chris also had an action
camera, and we started
thinking how can we put
quality and affordably into a
camera."
VOLT X is capable of cap-
turing video with 4K resolu-
tion at 30 frames -per -second
with a viewing angle of 170
degrees.
"Our wide aperture is
highly adjustable," said Song.
"Another thing I really love
about our camera is our
interface. It's very user
friendly:"
There are other action
cameras that have come
around in an attempt to
dethrone the extremely
popular GoPro brand.
However not many of these
have offered the quality of
a 4K resolution for only
$99.
The top level GoPro sells
for $500USD, and VOLT X
sells for $99USD. Accord-
ing to Song, some reasons
the GoPro is $500 is
because they have strong
brand recognition and
have a strong presence in
the market. However by
contacting specific manu-
facturers in China and not
having much overhead,
VOLT X will be able to sell
for one fifth of the GoPro
cost.
At this point, they do
not have the funds or
name recognition to sell
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in mainstream stores.
However they are selling
the camera on their web-
site, www.voltcamera.
com.
So far, they have sold
around 20 cameras, and
have gotten great feedback
on them.
On August 31, they are
launching their Kickstarter
website to begin crowd -
funding for their business.
This is Huron County resi-
dents' opportunity to sup-
port an ambitious, impres-
sive business venture. The
link for this page is https://
goo.gl/QcGW5E, and vari-
ous donation amounts will
merit different rewards.
Donations of $129 and more
include at least one VOLT X
camera.
In the meantime, the five
business partners will go
back to high school next
week in their respective
provinces like most teens
their age, all the while keep-
ing up their new business on
the side.
LET'S ALL
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Wednesday, August 31, 2016 • Huron Expositor 13
Contributed Photo
Ethan Ng, William Sun, Danny Hu, three members of the five member team that created VOLT X
action camera.
RETIREMENT AND
WELCOME RECEPTION
The Clinton Family Health Team
Clinton Physicians
Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance
Clinton Public Hospital Foundation
The Community of Central Huron
Help us say thank you to Dr. Maarten Bokhout
And welcome to Dr. Kyle Armstrong
Join us at the reception on
September 13, 2016 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Central Huron Community Complex
Libro Community Hall