Homemade Document Camera Solution

Dale Ehrhart, education student extraordinaire, has fashioned his own "handheld cam" and is kind enough to share photos of it with us. Dale needed to show his handheld's screen for a class he is taking and he doesn't have access to a manufactured document camera. He created the solution you see pictured below. He used a milk crate, a stick, a plastic bowl, and some screws to make a contraption where he can position his camcorder above a handheld. The camcorder then outputs to a television. Pretty creative, I must say!

Dale says his wife had many glowing comments, including:

• "Did you put a hole in one of my plastic bowls?"
• "You're going to drag that thing around school?"
• "You're such a dork!"

I won't tell Dale's wife that if he has access to a Windows machine, he can use software like PDAReach or TapSmart HandShare free for 14 days and there's no hardware to buy. Using the handheld's USB cable, you connect your handheld and computer. The Palm's screen appears on the Windows computer's screen. Since what's on your handheld is also on the computer's screen, it can be projected just like you would a PowerPoint slide show. Unfortunately, neither of these solutions are Mac compatible.

Click a photo for a larger version. Notice Dropairs on the screen in the first photo? Dale has created several Pair Boards for Dropairs.