Snap released Pixy, an an automated flying selfie drone. Just $230, the palm-sized gadget lifts-off, takes a shareable photo or video of you, then lands by itself.
Science fiction fans know that this idea is not new. SF author Karen Traviss described a Pixy in her 2004 novel City of Pearl:
He set his camera to follow him, and it hovered behind him like a large tame bee.
"Tight mid-shot and pull out on but behind me," he told it. He checked the shot on his handheld screen and moved a few meters to the right. That was better.
(Read more about Karen Traviss' bee cam)
Via KurzweilAI, which I haven't looked at in a while.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/13/2022)
Small Town Wants 60 License Plate Readers
'the registration number which the traffic control automatically photographed as she left the controlway...' - Robert Heinlein, 1940.
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Orion's 'Skip-to-M'Lou' Entry
'A lightning pilot possibly could land that tin toy without power and still walk away from it provided he had the skill to play Skip-to-M’Lou in and out of the atmosphere...'