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)
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'