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Saturday 1 November 2014

HEXO+: THE DRONE-DRIVEN FLYING VIDEO CAMERA


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The HEXO+ Drone Is Your Very Own Flying Video Camera
By Nicholas Greene,
The Coolist, 31 October 2014.

I’m of the mind that everything’s better with robots, and the HEXO+ drone is no exception. It’s an aerial hexacopter drone with a built-in camera, designed to capture all of life’s most awesome (and action-packed) moments. It’ll even follow you in order to keep you in the frame, if need be.

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Operating the Hexo+ drone is incredibly simple, too. All you need to do is pull out your smartphone and activate the ‘bot through the companion app. Once you’ve set the parameters regarding how you want it to film, it’ll fly into position, and move around in order to readjust as necessary. Even better, everything the drone’s camera sees is streamed straight to your Smartphone via an interactive feed.

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Assuming you aren’t in the middle of some insane stunt jump while filming’s taking place (I feel like that’s what somewhere around 90% of people are going to use this gadget for), you can modify the camera’s point of view with three simple touch gestures: slide laterally for panning, vertically for height, and pinch for distance. You can choose to shoot from pretty much every angle - no matter what, the camera will do everything necessary to stay focused on its subject.

Once you’ve captured a video with the drone, you can open up a Garageband-like application known as The Director’s Toolkit which allows you to create scenarios and edit video through drag-and-drop controls. Basically, this drone gives you everything you need to create a Hollywood-quality stunt reel.
Awesome, right?

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The whole package is incredibly lightweight and durable, capable of moving at speeds of up to 70 kilometres/hour. It’s compatible with GoPro cameras, and can easily be switched between manual and autonomous flight. Finally, it’s got built-in failsafe software, meaning that if it encounters any problems, you don’t need to worry about scrapping your drone - it’ll figure out a way to land.

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Y’know, the more I write about this, the more I realize the tech behind this drone could have some…incredibly creepy applications. Probably best not to think of those. Let’s just focus on how awesome it is for thrill-seekers, amateur stuntmen/stuntwomen, and athletes. Bringing the HEXO+ drone along means you’ll never miss another adrenaline-filled moment.


Video: HEXO+


All images and video credit: Hexoplus and Kickstarter.

[Source: The Coolist. Edited. Video and some images/links added.]


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