When going out to play, or taking selfies or taking pictures of him, people have become accustomed to recording with photos or videos. Now many people will use drones to open up different perspectives. But when it comes to drones, the keywords that people think of are always "a little bulky" and "it's too much trouble to learn how to control"...
Compared with the current common drones, the first drone pixy launched by Snap can be said to be quite small, only 101g after loading the battery, the flat body is not much larger than the palm, and taking it out to play will not add too much burden to the luggage.
▲ Image from: Snap
Pixy is made of Snap's signature yellow throughout, looking like a delicate and compact toy, and when taken apart, it is found that its internal structure is not complicated. Not only is the shape simple, but the way it is manipulated is also clear and easy to understand.
▲Image from: FCC
The pixy has two cameras on the fuselage, the front camera for 12MP photos or 2.7k 30 FPS video, 16 GB of flash memory for up to 100 videos or 1000 photos, and the battery is fully charged for 5-8 flights in the default airplane mode.
▲ Image from: Snap
In addition to the default airplane mode, you can switch between the four airplane modes via the dial at the top of the pixy. You can make it float in the air, you can make it fly around the subject, you can also use gestures to instruct it to follow the shooting... What's more, none of these operations require a remote control to operate.
▲ Image from: Snap
Not only is it easy to choose the shooting mode, it's also fairly easy to control its take-off and landing. To get it to take off, raise the front camera to a position aligned with the line of sight level and press the button.
▲ Image from: Snap
If it needs to come back, just reach out and the camera at the bottom of the pixy will recognize the location and make him stop at the palm of his hand.
▲ Image from: Snap
After completing the flight, pixy's footage can be wirelessly transferred to Snapchat Memories, where users can quickly edit and share videos and photos on Snapchat or other apps.
▲ Image from: Snap
It is not difficult to see from the whole process that the pixy, which can provide different shooting angles, is actually an accessory of Snapchat. Snapchat has also added a "Director Mode" to the app. This new video tool has new features such as dual camera mode, green screen, and quick editing that can help users improve their ability to capture content from their phones.
▲ Image from: Snap
As a social software, with new hardware and software to cooperate, Snapchat provides users with more possibilities to shoot and share, so that users will be more motivated to share.
▲ Image from: Snap
In fact, this is not the first hardware developed by Snap. Prior to the launch of pixy, the company had developed Spectacles AR smart glasses. Although there is also a shooting function, compared with drones, smart glasses can only record the user's first perspective, and there are certain limitations in the use of the scene.
▲ Image from: Snap
Of course, the pixy can also be improved in terms of design, such as its weight is too light to be used when there is a strong wind; it is best not to use it on the surface of the water and other shiny reflective surfaces, because this may confuse the bottom camera it uses for automatic flight; the Pixy and its accessories are not waterproof and cannot be used in water; in some areas the use of drones requires permission...
▲ Image from: Snap
Although the pixy is not a perfect product, the easy-to-use operation mode, the small body, and the not too high price (the pixy set with storage bag and bag dual battery charger costs $249.99, and you can also buy a $19.99 battery and a $49.99 dual battery charger separately on demand), which is cheaper to learn and use than the "big guys" like DJI drones.
▲ Image from: Snap
It is worth mentioning that Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap, once said of pixy: "Snap does not intend to make a lot of money from pixy, our goal is actually just to get people to master it and use it." 」
▲ Image from: Snap
Behind this is Spiegel's grander "blueprint", hundreds of millions of people using AR in Snapchat applications every day, but unlike Meta, which rushes to the metaverse, Snap bets on the real world. Spiegel launched pixy in anticipation of people preferring to spend time in the (enhanced) real world rather than a completely virtual one.