02 Dec Duck-face From Above
Everywhere I look I see drones: selfie drones, test drones, delivery drones and video drones. Selfie drones are making appearances on popular television series like Minority Report on FOX. Is this the future emulating reality?
As if the drones that already exist aren’t futuristic enough, the first wearable drone has been invented: Nixie. A person can literally wear it on his or her wrist, and when ready to deploy, give it a gesture and watch it take off. Nixie will then capture 1080P video or still images of the wearer. It will follow, circle, and even has a boomerang mode that allows Nixie to snap a picture and fly right back to its user. Arguably, Nixie’s best feature is its ability to sync with any smartphone, allowing its users to instantly share their images.
If you’re not into wearables, there is another drone available on the market called the Lily drone. Lily is a self-flying drone that is waterproof. Users can throw Lily into the air, and Lily takes off and follows, circles or gets in front of her user to shoot her user in motion. Lily shoots in 1080P/60 or 720P/60 and the video quality in the demo is noteworthy. It also shoots 12-megapixel still photos. Users do have to wear a traceable device so it can track properly, but it’s still a remarkably nifty tool for any activity.
Not to be outgunned or undersold are Phantom DJI drones, which have been in the game the longest of these companies. Phantom DJI has had to compete with startups like Lily to stay relevant. A few years ago, drones couldn’t be found on the market for under $1500, which were also supplemented by additional costs like supplying a GoPro ($299-$499) in order to fly it with a camera. That’s a substantial amount of money for a little toy. With Lily drones now starting at $799, Phantom is competing with its own drone for $699.
Regardless of the many drone wars, it’s still undecided whether the government is going to allow anyone to fly these drones to actually make money. The drone laws do change from state to state, so if you do buy one, make sure to look up the laws in that state before flying.
We do live in interesting times, and I can hardly wait until my teenage nieces have more tech to take selfies with (interject teenage eye roll here). After all, the estimated million pictures they’ve already taken probably aren’t cool anymore. Onward and upward.
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