Nixie – The Wearable Boomerang Camera

The latest in self-portrait techniques has arrived. Sticking your arm out (or holding a stick) will now seem extremely passe, thanks to the world’s first wearable camera. Nixie is one one of the finalists of Intel’s Make It Wearable contest. This nifty device captures a long-shot (pseudo) selfie with just a flick of a wrist. While the prototype is still being worked on, if the idea is polished, it could very well turn out to be the future of wearable technology.

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Beyond The Selfie Craze

Although it’d make an extremely fun gadget to own for casual use, the Nixie is actually aimed at targeting outdoor sports enthusiasts. “Nixie takes the picture that you wish you always had, but couldn’t because you didn’t want to stop the action,” says Project Manager Jelena Jovanovic. The idea is to capture the moment without actually disrupting it, the way you might in the case of hand-held selfie.

Quadcopter Captures

When it’s not in use, Nixie can be wrapped around your wrist to look like a regular armband. This makes it easy to access and could even double up as a cool accessory. When you want to take a picture, all you have to do is give your arm a little shake. The straps unlatch into a quadcopter that is propelled away. It then detects your position, takes a photo or video and returns to you, like a boomerang of sorts. In the meantime, it has already sent your desired picture or video to your smartphone.

WIP: The Nixie Prototype

The Nixie team is still working on perfecting the prototype, increasing the number of features and polishing the design. It runs on Intel’s Edison technology, a computing chip designed for wearable devices like these. With constantly increasing funds in their kitty, they should be able to release a commercially feasible model into the market soon enough. Hold tight!