A flying camera attached to a drone is the latest innovation from Snap, the company known for its popular Snapchat photo app. The company describes its little yellow drone, called the Pixy, as a “flying buddy” that will allow you to take selfies without using a selfie stick.
The device is already available in countries such as France and the US, where the laws are much more lenient regarding the use of drones than in others such as Spain, Germany or the United Kingdom, although it is expected that throughout 2022 Pixy will be able to found in most countries of the European Union.
Goodbye to the selfie stick
This new invention comes at a time when several social network giants are intensifying their hardware and Augmented Reality offerings to try to compete with innovations such as the Metaverse , although it has not yet been fully implemented and it is not known what effects it will have on a social and commercial level.
Pixy is completely autonomous and works on its own, without any type of cable or power outlet, and it takes photos and videos while it flies . Once you’re done shooting and recording, the contents of Pixy’s memory are wirelessly transferred to any linked device and saved in the app for sharing with other users or saving
Although Snapchat does not receive the same level of attention as other social networks like Facebook or Twitter, it is extremely popular among the younger audience. Snapchat has 300 million daily active users worldwide, and has a penetration capacity of more than 75% among users between the ages of 13 and 34.
Snapchat is known for its wide variety of filters, which distort the face or add innovative effects. In 2016, the company released a camera-equipped headset it called Spectacles, which further developed the immersive AR experience pioneered by those filters everyone knows.
Despite Snap predicting that Spectacles would one day be as widely used as mobile phones, the company had nearly $200 million in losses in 2017 as the glasses never caught on. Since then, Snap has been working on a new VR-oriented version of the Spectacles, but has yet to unveil it.
The popularization of drones
Meanwhile, the company’s hopes for Pixy seem to be bearing fruit, as drones are increasingly used by the general public. Also, Pixy is small, light and slower than professional drones, so it is very unlikely to cause damage, accidents or injuries.
Although small drones are not subject to the same rules as the rest, there is still no specific legislation on this type of device, which would be totally prohibited in specific spaces such as airports or government facilities and buildings.
