Tomy Wonderful Shot

Region

Japan

Associated With

Tomy Co., Ltd. - launch-era manufacturer

Defining Feature

Collar-mounted remote and timer photography from a dog’s viewpoint

Status

Discontinued - exact withdrawal date unknown

Overview

Wonderful Shot was Tomy’s collar-mounted digital camera for dogs, released across Japan in 2004.

Hanging beneath a dog’s collar, it could take pictures by remote control or at timed intervals. Its 350,000-pixel sensor stored about 90 images in 8 MB of memory before owners transferred them to a Windows computer over USB.

Tomy presented it as a way to see familiar places from a dog’s low viewpoint. Owners could organise the photographs with companion diary software. The product is discontinued, although its exact withdrawal date is unknown.

Why It Mattered

Wonderful Shot turned an ordinary walk into a dog-height photo experiment. Its remote and timer modes let the animal’s movement shape the frame, producing many views of floors and roads but also occasional recognisable moments.

It also captures a specific form of early-2000s digital life: a tiny novelty camera, USB transfer and Windows diary software, sold through Japanese pet shops and pet departments rather than only through Tomy’s usual toy channels.

Camera Design and Optics

• The camera measured 55 × 52 × 12 mm and weighed approximately 38 grams.
• Its official specification listed a 350,000-pixel CMOS sensor and an F2.8 fixed-focus lens focused from 70 centimetres to infinity.
• Paw-print controls decorated the camera and remote, while the dedicated USB and power lead carried a bone motif.

Controls, Software and Compatibility

• Owners could use the supplied remote or set intervals of 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes.
• Wonderful Shot Viewer organised photographs and supported a daily dog diary. A later software version also offered unattended photography, emailing images periodically while the camera remained connected to a PC.
• Tomy supported Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows Me and Windows XP; Windows 95, the original Windows 98 and Macintosh systems were outside the guaranteed environment.

Presentation, Launch and Sales Plan

• Wonderful Shot appeared at the 58th Tokyo International Gift Show, held at Tokyo Big Sight from 7 to 10 September 2004.
• Tomy formally announced it on 15 September and launched it across Japan on 29 October 2004 for ¥9,240 including tax.
• It was sold through pet shops and pet departments in department stores, mass retailers and home centres; TBS reported that Tomy developed a pet-goods wholesale route for the product.
• Tomy set a first-year sales target of 150,000 units, but that figure was a goal rather than a reported sales result.

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