Frustrated, he invented something that would allow him take a picture of himself: He called it the "extender stick." Since the iPhone really hadn't been invented yet, a small camera was to be attached to one end of the stick. It also had a small mirror in its front so that users could see how they would look in the photograph. He patented the "extender stick" in 1983. The product was mass produced for sale but it was a commercial failure. The quality of the pictures was low. Besides, previous research showed that the women back then were embarrassed by the idea of taking pictures of themselves. The selfie stick was then reinvented by Wayne Fromm in the year 2000, three years before Hiroshi's patent expired. Fromm called his the "quik pod." He believes he is the inventor of today's selfie sticks and has even sued several other selfie stick producers. When asked about Hiroshi's selfie sticks, he said they were "prior art."