One of the 10 finalists in Intel's Make It Wearable (MIW) Challenge, the Nixie is a flyable wrist-worn camera, perfect for the selfie-taking adventurer.
From the minds of Christoph Kohstall, Jelena Jovanovic, and Michael Niedermayr, the device was envisioned as a flying pair of glasses, but has since developed into a wristband that unfolds into a remote-controlled quadcopter.
"With traditional cameras, shooters have to interrupt the moment to take pictures, and the controls require manual manipulations," the Intel Creators Project blog said. "Nixie puts you front and center in your photos and videos—without requiring your hands, or your attention."
Still just a prototype, the Nixie will include preset modes to fit all on-the-go situations, from the classic selfie to a panorama image, or even a continuous movie.
"You should be able, with a gesture, to tell the quadcopter to unfold, and then it's going to take off from your wrist. It knows where you are, it turns around, it takes a picture of you, it comes back, you can catch it from the air, and put it back on your wrist," founder Kohstall explained in a video (below).
Within its capacity as an Intel MIW Challenge entry, the Nixie, of course, utilizes Intel's Edison—a functioning, Quark-powered computer with wireless capabilities packed into a chip as slim and small as an SD card.
"Nixie takes the picture that you wish you had always had, but couldn't, because you didn't want to stop the action," project manager Jovanoic said.
And it doesn't look like this.
The selfie-taking wearable drone is in the running alongside nine other futuristic inventions that cover sports, healthcare, robotics, and existing wearable technology. The winning team will be announced at the Make It Wearable Finale Event on Nov. 3.
Learn more about the Intel Make It Wearable Challenge in the video below.
