The latest Kickstarter success story comes from industrial designer Chris Thomson and cinematographer Ben Ryan, who have created a simple, portable, and clever device to help shooters regulate motion control. Called the Genie, it doesn't take up much more space than the SLR body it's meant to be attached to, and it allows the user to program in both rotating and panning features.

What most impresses us is the inherent hackability of the device: Because it can propel itself along by a provided rope, the camera can go anywhere you're willing to string that rope, either using an optional track or something you whip up yourself, like a few pieces of wood nailed together or even a skateboard.

What's also neat is that in the video below, you can see that they've prototyped it with the help of a MakerBot Cupcake:

New-Zealand-based Thomson and Ryan, operating under their company name of Syrp, easily hit their $150,000 funding target within a week. The cost, labor and transportation savings of using a backpack-based Genie versus a traditional dolly track is proving too attractive for pro shooters to ignore, and at press time Syrp had attracted nearly $300,000—with 42 days left in the pledging process.