Nixie was a prototype small camera-equipped

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

that can be worn as a wrist band. Nixie can be activated to unfold into a

quadcopter A quadcopter or quadrotor is a type of helicopter with four rotors. Although quadrotor helicopters and convertiplanes have long been flown experimentally, the configuration remained a curiosity until the arrival of the modern UAV or drone. ...

, fly in one of its pre-programmed modes to take photos or a video, and then return to the user. Competing against more than 500 other participants, Nixie's developers became the winning team in the development track of the Intel's ''Make It Wearable'' competition on November 3, 2014, thus securing $500,000 in seed funding to develop Nixie into a product. The developers stated their goal to develop the drone into the next generation of

point-and-shoot camera A point-and-shoot camera, also known as a compact camera and sometimes abbreviated to P&S, is a still camera designed primarily for simple operation. Most use focus free lenses or autofocus for focusing, automatic systems for setting the exposure ...

s. , the device was in development and was not commercially available.

Features

Nixie is a

that unfolds into a

and is worn as a slap bracelet. It weighs < , captures full HD images or video, and syncs with a

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

. The drone uses an

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...

Edison chip. In October 2014, Nixi
prototypes
had good functionality, but lacked durability and design perfection. At that time, an important engineering challenge was to identify flexible, light, and durable materials to achieve the look o
concept renderings
In November 2014, an updated prototype added image recognition capabilities to identify the user, and the primary goals were improving propellers, motors, and object navigation. The overall goal for the project was stated as building a light, portable, and user-friendly drone that could serve as a "personal photographer". Accordingly, the drone was named after a playful water spirit Nixie of

Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. Origins As the Germanic lang ...

. In the media, Nixie has been described as a "wearable

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as Fac ...

drone" and as a "wearable camera drone", with such images being nicknamed " dronies". The developers emphasized that Nixie is intended for taking framing-worthy pictures and videos, not only

Applications

2014 prototype of the Nixie drone flown by Christoph Kohstall

Even though a wearable camera drone was suggested to have applications in rock climbing,

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and p ...

, and other

adventure sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...

, in November 2014 the developers announced plans to market Nixie to a niche audience of rock climbers first, before expanding to a general audience.

Operation modes

Sensors and motion-prediction algorithms are used to guide Nixie along one of four pre-programmed paths for taking photos or video. * In a ''boomerang'' mode, the drone flies a set distance from its user, takes a photo, and then returns. * In a ''panorama'' mode, it takes photos to fill a 360° arc. * In a ''follow me'' mode, it serves as a

third-person view In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...

camera by trailing the user. * In a ''hover'' mode, it hovers for use in

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

shots and can be controlled from a

History

According to ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

'', the first Nixie prototype was built by Christoph Kohstall. After tinkering with a

that he received as a gift, Kohstall built a drone model of eyeglasses with

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s, as well as a prototype that could dive underwater and then reemerge from under the surface. To better address the poor usability of quadcopters, he then had an idea to create a "flying wristband" with a camera. Kohstall's partner Jelena Jovanovic was involved in creating the first prototype and later became the project manager. Together with Michael Niedermayr, Kohstall and Jovanovic entered the 2014 Intel's ''Make It Wearable'' competition as team Nixie led by Kohstall. Once the team became a finalist on September 3, 2014, Nixie received significant amount of attention, and > 5.9 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. As one of ten competition finalists, the team was provided with mentorship, design assistance, technical support, and $50,000 for further development. The team presented the final prototype at the

''Make It Wearable Challenge Finale'' on November 3, 2014, winning the $500,000 seed funding grand prize to develop the prototype into a product. In their second interview with ''

'', the developers indicated that their primary goals for improving the drone were optimizing propellers, motors, and object navigation, as well as miniaturisation of Nixie.

Developers

* Christoph Kohstall holds a PhD in

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) and ...

from IQOQI, and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. Kohstall serves as a co-founder and

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of Nixie. * Jelena Jovanovic is a technical program manager at

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

. Jovanovic is

Chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of Nixie. * Michael Niedermayr, Floris Ernst, Stefan Niedermayr, Steven Le, Kris Winer, Jeremy Swerdlow, and Steven Shiozaki have backgrounds in motion prediction algorithms, design, and engineering.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official website

Introducing Nixie: the first wearable camera that can fly
YouTube video
best lga 1155 cpu

Make it wearable finalists: meet team Nixie
YouTube video * Intel'sbr>Make It Wearable
competition Unmanned aerial vehicles Quadcopters Aerial photography Portable electronics Action cameras