Wearable Selfie Cam Hovers, Points and Shoots
The lightweight Nixie quadcopter is designed to wrap around your wrist and take flight on command. Continue reading →
As camera phones and mobile tech have proliferated, it's clear that there's an art - if that's the word - to the phenomenon known as the selfie. Autophotography can be a tricky business and some selfies are better than others.
A persistent issue with selfies is the necessity of holding your camera at arm's length, but that may not be a problem for long. The Nixie is a quadcopter camera drone - currently in the prototype phase - that's designed to be flexible and lightweight enough to wrap around your wrist. When a selfie opportunity arises, the Nixie detaches, flies to a likely spot, hovers and takes a picture.
DNews: Using Your Selfies For Science!
"You should be able, with a gesture, to tell the quadcopter to unfold," says designer Christoph Kohstall in the Team Nixie demo video. "Then it's going to take off from your wrist; it knows where you are. It turns around, takes a picture of you, and comes back. You can catch it from the air and put it back on your wrist."
The idea of a selfie-taking camera isn't new. High-end autonomous drone cameras like the Hexo are designed to facilitate high-def video of extreme sports, for instance.
But the Nixie seems like the kind of idea that could really take off (heh) as a fun and functional riff on wearable tech. If 21st century technology has taught us anything, it's that smaller always equals better, and you can never underestimate people's desire to document themselves.
Credit: Team Nixie
This week, our tech slideshow is all about the Mobile World Congress, the consumer electronics show that takes place in Barcelona each year. Innovative smartphones, wearable computers and Internet-connected cars are among some of the technologies that were on display. Here are some of our favorites.
The Mirama smart glasses, from
, have a gesture recognition system combined with augmented reality technology. The wearer uses her hands to interact with virtual objects seen in the glasses. Brilliant service wants their smart glasses to one day replace for smartphones.
For its unique aluminum unibody design, the HTC ONE was awarded this year's "Smartphone of the Year."
Walldorf, Germany-based SAP is working with the German national football team to prepare for the World Cup in 2014, and take soccer to the next level. The ball has embedded sensors and electronics that capture and analyze a wealth of data in real time, including spatial analysis of player movements.
Blackphone is the world's first smartphone that places security back into the hands of the user. The $629 phone, which comes unlocked, was developed in a partnership between Silent Circle and Geeksphone. Along with the PrivatOS, built on Android, the phone comes with a suite of Silent Circle apps, including Silent Phone, Silent Text and Silent Contacts; anonymous search, private browsing and VPN from Disconnect. SpiderOak provides a secure cloud file storage and the Blackphone ships with a remote-wipe and device recovery tool.
LG was on hand to promote its new G Flex, which has a 6.0” curved OLED screen, that while not flexible, does have a shape that fits well into the palm of a hand. The big screen provides an impressive panoramic view, while minimizing glare.
Samsung's Galaxy Fit was among many wearable fitness devices on display at the Mobile World Congress. The Fit has a thin, curved shape meant to follow the wrist; the user navigates menus by swiping horizontally. Along with a heart monitor, the Fit is designed to provide notifications for calls, e-mail and text message. A personal fitness coaching app is an option.
One of the most surprising announcements at the Mobile World Congress came from Mozilla, who plans to launch seven new devices using Firefox OS, including a smartphone -- the ZTE Open C -- priced at $25. The devices are being aimed at people in developing countries.
Chinese company Gionee presented its Elife 5.5, the world's thinnest smartphone. At 5.5 millimeters thick, the phone edges out the 5.75mm Vivo X3. For comparison, the iPhone 5s is 7.6mm thick.
The new Xperia Z2 phone and tablet from Sony are waterproof, come with brighter screens and noise-canceling earbuds.
Sony's SmartBand SWR10 is also waterproof, which makes sense if you plan to sweat while wearing them.
Practically speaking, cars are becoming gadgets. Ford was among several automakers displaying their versions of fully connected Internet cars. These cars work in conjunction with a person's smartphone or work like a smartphone to run apps that connect to the Internet, play music and movies, display GPS navigation and control security features at home, among many other features.