Optical viewing devices, such as binoculars, camera, spotting scopes, video recorders, and telescopes are frequently used by individuals and organizations to observe objects that are beyond a distance that would permit them to be seen adequately by the naked eye. These devices are extremely convenient and a necessity to those that rely on them daily.

Unfortunately, in many cases it is very difficult for multiple users of viewing devices to find and view the same object, even when they are standing side by side. This difficulty arises because of many reasons including: the skill of the user, distance to the object, altitude, visibility, atmospheric conditions, and even height of the viewer. When multiple users of viewing devices are separated even further the difficulty in simultaneously viewing the same object seems to increase proportionate to the distance of their separation.

Researchers at the University of Wyoming’s Mechanical Engineering Department have developed several devices and techniques (ranging from mechanical to electronic) for synchronizing optical devices for this purpose.

The mechanical synchronizer consists of a lightweight frame for rigidly connecting the optical viewing units (i.e binoculars, spotting scopes, etc) so that when one unit is pointed at a particular object, the second unit is necessarily also pointing at the same object.

The electronic synchronizer includes an electronic compass, an electronic level/protractor, an electronic rangefinder, a GPS unit, a microcontroller, and a network communication link. These devices work simultaneously to link two or more optical viewing devices so that a single object can be viewed from various locations at once. This synchronizer provides position, azimuth, elevation and range information to the other viewing devices over a communication link in order to “zero-in” on a single object. The invention also provides means for storing such information so that any one of the viewing devices can be repositioned to come back to an originally-viewed object. This allows a user or multiple users to spatially and/or temporally synchronize a viewing device.

These synchronizers are currently patent pending at the USPTO. If your company would like to further investigate this technology or manufacture and sell the technology, please contact the University of Wyoming Research Products Center. Davona Douglass, Director, would be pleased to execute a confidentiality agreement in order to share further details.