Lens is the world's first dedicated social networking camera and a way to explore new methods of sharing videos to a social platform. Developed for Beme, a new video-sharing platform created by Casey Neistat, the device seeks to reflect their ethos of video sharing—a departure from the heavily scrutinized, curated sense of self that emerges out of most social networking platforms. After understanding what Beme was trying to communicate, I found that there was an opportunity to create a product that would emulate and enhance their ideas about video sharing without the need of a smartphone camera. Lens lessens the users need to use their smartphone as a source of video capture and also adds a component of easy portability. By incorporating a very compact, simple and sleek design aesthetic, it caters to people who prefer easiness over complexity and portability over inconvenience.

Lens, quite simply, is a way of exemplifying the ethos that Beme has generated. Beme is a newly founded networking app that allows users to disconnect from their mobile devices and share videos honestly within their social circle and to other users around the world. With video sharing fast becoming one of the most popular means to communicate, applications like Beme are the gateway into the future of Social Networking.

What makes it unique and sets it apart from other video sharing applications is that it's extremely simple to operate. All the user needs to do is to cover the proximity sensor of their smartphone to begin the recording. Immediately after the allotted recording time, the video is published online, without the requirement of editing and posting.

Something also very innovative is the viewer circle, which is unlike any other video sharing application. Your audience does not have to follow you or even be associated to you to see a recent video you've published. This also means that you have the ability to tune in to a wide variety of people's networks all over the world. In a way, you're able to live the lives of people all over the world and experience what they experience.

After understanding what Beme is trying to communicate, by getting users to use their phone screens less and stop scrutinizing themselves before publishing work, I found a niche for a product that would both enhance and promote the means of video sharing, without the need of a smartphone camera.

Something that always bothered me about having a smartphone on my person is that it is cumbersome. Having a large phone in your back pocket is more than an inconvenience when you're out exercising or in a place you don't necessary want to expose your phone to damage. Personally, I've adopted the smallest iPod shuffle possible when it comes to being active, to limit the need of a large music playing device, as well as leaving my smartphone behind. What made the iPod all the more excellent, was its utilization of a simple clip, which made attaching it to clothing all the more useful. From this, I imagined a similar clip mechanic on a miniature camera that would comfortably fit next to my iPod Shuffle. This idea of small and compact was the first motivating factor behind Lens.

From this initial concept, I started thinking about a camera that wouldn't fall into the trend of being another GoPro or action camera, but rather, something dedicated to social media and sharing experiences. Beme turned out to be the perfect platform to adopt, because the company and its ethos possessed much of what I wanted to communicate. From the get go, I knew it was important to create a camera that would be appealing to both sexes, something that everyone could relate to and easily identify. A circle, that mimicked a camera lens was the best choice because it was something extremely simple and something vastly different to other camera's on the market. The next step was to utilize the space of the lens correctly. This was a difficult decision making process, because something important that I also intended to incorporate was the Beme logo, which would light up when the Lens is recording.

To make the interface simple, the only button required to operate the Lens is a power button on the top of the rubberized grip, which simply switches the camera on, records until the allotted time is finished, stores the recording on its internal SSD Flash Storage and switches off. The rear clip also acts as a safety guard for the USB-C connection port for charging the Lens. Something important that I wanted to address was the ability to leave your smartphone at home, still record the video and have the opportunity to upload the videos onto Beme when you're in-range of your smartphones Bluetooth signal. This entire experience lessens the hassle of always having a smartphone on your person to do social video documentation.

With the incorporation of a 24mm Zeiss Prime lens, a Focal Length of 18mm, a Reproduction ratio of 1:3 and an Aperture of f/1.8 —Lens is able to perform fantastic photography. With the addition of focal blurring and various video formats of the user has a wide range of capabilities to capture extremely high definition footage.

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