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by lsc 3149 days ago
yeah, what they need are programmable drones that follow them around, recording. Bruce Sterling suggested such a thing in "The Artificial Kid" - and I think we've got the tech to actually kinda do it now.
5 comments

That was the Lily: https://www.wired.com/2015/05/lily-robotics-drone/

Spoiler: the video was misleading (California is suing them for false advertising) and the company is dead.

Mayfield Robotics is making a non-flying version of this, called the Kuri: https://www.heykuri.com/

It is a real product, founded by a bunch of robotics people from Harvey Mudd.

The camera angle seems like it could be... problematic, though.

Also it doesn't look like it has the capability to follow me in even most sedate urban environments. I mean, I'm not asking for stairs, but that thing looks like it'd have a hard time with a sidewalk crack.

Both those problems could probably be solved by making it bigger.

yeah, what they need are programmable drones that follow them around, recording.

They can call it the "paparazzi" and Snapchat users will eat it up, it would be air and land based that makes them look like stars.

In all seriousness, the biggest use of Snapchat Spectacles or Google Glass is exploring but that view does lose the star aspect of what people desire on Snapchat. GoPro has that covered but also just a view of what the person is seeing isn't always the best view.

It could work with the drone/bot aspect to make it a full production. Still though, Snapchat is obsessed with angles that make you look the best so it might be something that would need to be edited/managed like a photo/video.

Seems like the Airdog has the functionality, by following a beacon worn on the subject. I just read a good and thorough review about it.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/airdog/introducing-the-...

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/07/airdog-adii-2nd-gen-spor...

The new iBubble underwater camera drone supposedly does that for scuba divers. Floating in the water with neutral buoyancy takes less power than flying so battery life should be decent.

https://ibubble.camera/

doesnt DJI spark have follow me, and selfie gestures?
Yes, as do other DJI drones, but only for a few minutes, and of course the whole "you can't actually fly a drone here without calling the 5 airports in the area" rules tends to put a damper on things.
>of course the whole "you can't actually fly a drone here without calling the 5 airports in the area" rules tends to put a damper on things

I could be wrong, but I bet there's a reasonably large market for 'inside only' selfie drones. If you look at who is posting on youtube, most of it is filmed indoors.