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Feb/March 2010 firm newsletter

Tiny cameras let skiers relive downhill dashes

Kevin Harlin of The Times Union Anyone afraid of skiing would be afraid of what Niche Ltd. is bringing to it. With patents in hand, the Queensbury company is unveiling its system of tiny helmet- or visor-mounted cameras and recording devices that can transfer one person's downhill adventures to a DVD, tape or CD-ROM. The resulting home movies have the feel-like-you're-there quality that make them more real than other methods, said Michael Jones, president and chief executive officer of Niche. And the mini-cam -- dubbed a JonesCam -- is safer than a hand held video camera for both equipment and skier. The Niche system -- patent number 6,292,213 B1 -- is only a small part of what the 5-year-old company is planning as it moves later this month from a modest space in Queensbury to a new home in the incubator at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. The cameras -- and small recorders and battery packs to run them -- also could be used for mountain bike trails, kayaking trips and amusement park rides. And a second and complementary patent locks in the company's rights to a portal Web site with a library of detailed images of golf courses, with shot-by-shot, hole-by-hole player vantage points. "Every day we're talking about what we can do, and the next thing you know, people are asking can you do this, too, and can you do that?" said Jones, a 51-year-old former ski instructor and coach. In six months, Jones anticipates the company -- which has spent only about $250,000 in five years of research and development -- to turn a profit. After a year, he projects revenue of more than $1 million. Combine the JonesCam with the two-way communications, global positioning and other technologies, and it becomes an ideal tool for ski instructors to follow the progress of students as they take a hill, he said. And for about $30,000, a golf course could hire the compnay to create a virtual tour of the courses more detailed than the views and information they currently may have on their Web sites. Helping turn those ideas into real-world products is Niche's chief technical officer, Brian Kenyon, a 23-year-old RPI graduate who studies Web design and digital video editing. The company already is selling a basic version of the system off its Web sites (www.i-views.com) for between $250 and $300. It currently is in negotiations with ski areas in the Capital Region and elsewhere, and Jones predicts that in a matter of weeks to months, the system could be available for rent at local ski slopes. Arlen Olsen, a patent attorney with the Latham law firm Schmeiser, Olsen and Watts LLP, characterized the ideas as interesting. Many of Niche's systems and devices have been tried in limited forms, he said, and many of the cameras and other equipment are largely off-the-shelf technology. But Olsen said a landmark federal court case in 1998 cleared the way for patents on business plans and methods, which are what Niche holds. Jones said more are pending. Dirk Gouwens, president of Ski Areas of New York Inc., a Tully-based trade association of the state's ski industry, said he hasn't heard of anyone trying to rig a rentable camea system to a skier yet. But will it catch on? "I guess it all depends on how much you need to carry around with you to make it work," he said. rg/12/'>lung cancer systoms