A device called μPeek , which attaches to the back of any smartphone (over the top of the camera lens), is about the size of a credit card and is controlled via an app, allowing you to view crystal-clear images of tiny objects and make adjustments to the microscope right on your phone.
According to Patrick Galliker, co-founder and CEO of Scrona, the company behind μPeek, The microscope is equipped with a motorized lens and sophisticated optical components — two things usually found on expensive (and relatively big) professional microscopes.
To use μPeek, attach the device to your phone and place it on any surface that you want to look at on the microscopic level. You can peer at the microcosm contained within the living room carpet or get a close-up view of a fallen leaf, for example. If you’d rather use μPeek to look at something on a microscope slide, you can do that, too. The device comes with a standard-size slide holder and a set of blank slides, plus a guide that explains how to prepare specimens.
the standard μPeek is expected to retail for $159 — and its tiny size make it a practical tool for science classrooms. Since you can fit μPeek in your pocket, it can also be used anywhere, like out in the woods, or on the beach. Scrona is also offering another version of the device, μPeek Blue, which is equipped with UV lights so that it can be used as a fluorescence microscope. It is expected to retail for $219.
I think this product could be fantastic and I could definitely see it as being a part of the emerging market of smart phone additions. A few months ago, I was at Five Below and I saw a fan that plugged into the charging port of an iPhone. My mom got one and it turned out to be very useful when a heat wave hit. A couple weeks after that, we were again at Five Below, and we saw a set of lenses that attached to the camera of an iPhone to give it different levels of maximum zoom. It turns out these worked less well than the fan. In fact they didn’t work at all. Awhile after that, I received a free phone stand from a company trying to advertise. I think it’s really interesting how the emergence and popularization of smart phones has not only increased the value of the cell phone market, but also has caused the emergence of the smart phone accessory market. There are companies that deal solely in making accessories like cases, stands, and even fans, for smartphones. It will be interesting to see whether or not the μPeek does well in terms of revenue because, while it surely has usefulness, I’m not sure consumers will think its usefulness worth the high price tag. Only time will tell.
In today’s world of making everything portable and affordable to the everyday person, I’m really glad there’s a company working hard to bring something as fun and complex as a miniature microscope to more people who may be interested in using it as a hobby or even for their class or profession. And with the affordable retail price, and how most children now a days have mobile phones, or even a tablet, having access to a microscope could help them learn the basics of biology and chemistry even when they’re still in elementary school. This could help out our future with more adults going into higher education or the workforce with an advanced understanding and knowledge of what they’re expected to do. This could also pave the way for the future with large, usually expensive items, being turned into small, portable everyday items that anyone could go out and purchase.
I remember doing something fun and similar to this with my phone a few years back. If you can remove the lens from a laser pointer and position it correctly over the phone camera, it works as a wonderful closeup lens. Clearly they are different in terms of usefulness and magnification level. But the reason I bring up the cost is because I can’t imagine a lens costing that much, then the mount for the lens is probably not terribly expensive either. Either way, this product seems very cool and very useful if you were in that particular field of study. Good find!
I think that this a great idea for so many reasons. In terms of the user’s needs, it is far more portable than an actual microscope, similarly priced (if not cheaper), and it is a lot more feasible to maintain and to use. You don’t have to keep tuning the knobs on the side of the microscope. Instead, your phone will automatically focus itself and you can clearly examine any microorganism or specimen. While the slides itself cannot be removed and are still integral to view objects under the scope, the product is still extremely user-friendly. As a result, users can even screenshot their findings and immediately upload it to the cloud or to their phone’s gallery for future use. User’s can even easily record the action underneath the slides which I firmly believe is a huge leap in the science realm.