GoPro's variety of harnesses let you mount their cameras to your head, chest or even your dog. But a new company has developed a flying camera that you needn't wear at all. You simply throw the Lily, as it's called, into the air, where it takes flight and follows you on your adventures.
Just over ten inches square, the aluminum and polycarbonate Lily is a dual-camera-equipped quadrotor drone with 20 minutes of flight time.
It hones in on a tracker you wear on your wrist, hovering anywhere from five to 50 feet above your head, and runs a tracking path of your choosing (i.e. follow shot, side shot, Michael-Bay encircling shot).
And it'll keep up with you as long as you're moving 25 miles per hour or less. It seems pretty unbelievable:
The Lily is expected to retail for $999, but the developers are currently selling pre-orders for just $499.
I keep thinking of the applications it could have beyond adventure videography. Given a longer flight time and a workable way to navigate overhead obstacles, a fly-'n-follow camera could be useful for everything from tracking animals on a farm to less confrontational police pursuits. We'll have to see how well the device actually works when it begins shipping in February of next year.
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Pretty unbelievable indeed. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2015/may/12/testing-the-selfie-drone-in-central-park-video