Filmmaker Paul Trillo and Microsoft, who previously collaborated on the NY 41x41 project, have teamed up again to work on another smartphone-based visual project. Trillo and his team built  an apparatus which they call the "Lumia Arc of Wonder". It consists of 50 Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphones fixed to a custom-built metal arc on casters, some networking equipment and external power sources. 

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The whole rack is controlled via a custom-designed app running on a Microsoft Surface tablet. When the 1020 cameras are triggered they simultaneously capture the same scene from 50 different perspectives, creating the "bullet" or "freeze time" effect that was first explored in the Matrix movies. 

The Lumia Arc of Wonder on a New York City street

To create the final version of the above video, 30,000 photographs were taken in the streets of New York City. Then the sets of 50 images had to be sequenced together, slowed down and stabilized.

Trillo says it was his intention to do street photography in a new and exciting way, and it's probably fair to say he has achieved this. The Lumia Arc of Wonder might be a little more conspicuous and less pocketable than your average smartphone or compact camera, but the semi-circle "time freeze" is quite spectacular. Watch the video below to for some insight as to how the project was carried out. 

Source: Nokia