Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Totally a distraction...?


Wearable, flyable $50 video cameras



“Life’s best moments don’t wait for you to grab a camera to capture them,” says the developer of a button-sized clip=on camera, with which “people can now capture life as they enjoy it.”

Pinned to your shirt or worn as a necklace, MeCam “catches every instant from a first-person point of view, recording each moment the way you see it,” the eponymous company says.

The $50 wearable video camera is less than two inches in diameter and weighs less than two ounces. It records 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. Its LED infrared lighting operates effectively in low light conditions and captures audio within a 10 foot radius. It can also take 5 megapixel still photos. It’s Lithium-ion battery powers 80 minutes of continuous run time. Only downside: It’s not wireless: You later upload the video via USB cable.


But wait, there’s more! Another company is also offering a $50 “mecam” — but this one doesn’t clip to your shirt. Instead it hovers about, getting you in the shot. That’s right, it’s on a helicopter.

While the MeCam wearable model in available now, the MeCam helicopter is still being developed by Always Innovating, which says its video nano copter lets you “point-and-shoot yourself.”

The MeCam launches from the palm of a hand and hovers instantly, the company says. And it doesn’t even need a remote control, the developer claims: you just shout out directions, or engage its “follow-me” feature.

The San Francisco company says it does not intend to produce the MeCam but is offering it for licensing and hopes to have it on the shelves by 2014.

The copter has 14 sensors including side object detectors that are “queried for perfect and safe hovering” the company says, and uses 3 stabilization algorithms. It captures 480 SD video.

1-29-2013

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