Logitech Reach is an articulated webcam that you can point at whatever you want

Logitech has it Logitech Reach announced, an articulated webcam that aims to provide better and more interactive remote meetings, online tutoring, and live broadcasts. Logitech will crowdfund the camera through Indiegogo Enterprise initially, which it said the edge In the briefing is how the design will be improved and pricing determined. The company hasn’t announced when the campaign will start, but it may set the price for access between a “discounted” $299 and $399, per survey on its site.

While the articulated arm is new, the camera itself is not; It’s one of our favorites: 1080p, 60fps, $170 Logitech StreamCam. You can replace it, albeit just with another Streamcam, but at least you won’t need to buy a whole new gadget if your camera breaks. said Gaurav Prado, Logitech Product Lead the edge In an email, the team considered selling only the formula, but most market research respondents prefer “the end-to-end solution, not just the formula.” Logitech plans to sell Reach after the Indiegogo campaign ends and has collected all the data it needs to finalize and price the design.

It says it will offer Reach options of a freestanding base or a desk clip. The two bases are interchangeable, and the company will sell them on their own, though there’s no word on pricing yet. Like the Logitech Streamcam, the Reach will be a plug-and-play USB camera.

The Reach seems to have been inspired by the boom mic stands I used on nearly every stage I played on in my great music days—at a virtual conference, Prado raised and lowered it, turned it close to the base to swing the boom around, and then moved the mic boom back and forth. To show the items on the desk, he rotated the Streamcam to point at the items and then moved them around smoothly.

Prado highlighted a particularly thoughtful design element during the demo: As you rotate the camera arm, you can hold a ring built into the camera’s mounting part, keeping the image upright while panning.

Smooth panning and stability seem to be big benefits here. The problems with installing webcam mounts now, Prado says, is that most, if not all, don’t move the way people want them to. They can move around, but it’s hard to keep them on a fixed axis without wobbling or arcing across your content.

It was an impressive demo of a product that seems about three years late as companies give up on remote work. But for those whose companies haven’t taken this step, or streamers and vloggers who want to do more than just point the camera at their face, a new tool could come in handy.