Most of the video content I watch these days are people recording themselves. This is something I have been noticing for a while now. Seriously, if I go through my watch history, it’s mostly about technology, sometimes comedy, sometimes music and a lot of vlogs. The common thread? Most, if not all of these videos are people recording themselves in interesting ways. Popular YouTubers star in their own videos, and it doesn’t stop there, they edit and direct their own videos as well! That’s why they are called YouTubers and not actors, editors or directors. Majority of the content I consume is created this way and this is why I’m excited about this new camera that debuted at CES – the OBSBOT Tail.
Dubbed the world’s first “Auto-Director” AI camera, the OBSBOT Tail sets the stage for the future of first-person films by making artificial intelligence do the camera work, aided by a stabilized camera, mounted on a 360 degree rotating mount that tracks you wherever you go. All this, without compromising on performance or image quality.
OBSBOT Tail Features:
● Powerful Processor – HiSilicon Hi3559A chip enables image processing and supports 3D Lookup Table (3DLUT) for true-to-color footage
● 1/2.3 inch CMOS | 4K Video with 12MP Photos – Sports a 3.5x optical zoom lens, 10 optical lenses (4 Hoya aspherical lenses), 100-3200 ISO for video, 100-3200 ISO for photos
● Three-Axis, 360° Gimbal – Proprietary ‘ExtraSmooth’ technology provides jitter-free camera movements
● AI Tracking – Track any person in low light, activate shots with gesture recognition, or frame shots of moving subjects
● Power Gesture – OBSBOT Tail’s gesture recognition technology enables a stable and accurate gesture control within up to 6m (Wide) to 20m (Tele) distances.
● Eureka Moment -OBSBOT Tail’s integrated video analytic technology will analyze the video recording in real time, and recommend the highlight clips for you once finished.
● Obsbot Studio App – Edit your shots within the OBSBOT app seamlessly with dozens of editing options
Remo Tech is the company behind OBSBOT Tail. It’s based in Shenzhen and has debuted with the OBSBOT Tail after about two years of R&D. AI is obviously the company’s forte and this is where the OBSBOT Tail’s USP lies.
Basically, this 4K 60 fps camera can track you while moving, can understand gestures and make sure you’re always in the shot. With a flat base, it can be kept of any flat surface, or on a tripod. Weighing about 600 grams, it can be used handheld as well. As you’d imagine, the camera is mounted on a gimbal for shake-free footage and the base rotates 360 degrees giving you freedom to move around in any direction around the camera.
There is 3.5x optical zoom, so you can have some interesting tracking features, like tilt zoom, pan zoom and so on. All of these features are configurable, including custom gestures using your hands. There are pre-configured moves in the app called “Launchpad” which will help you direct shots before taking them, like the many zoom features I mentioned above. In the age of vertical video, the camera can do portrait videos as well.
While there is no in-built microphone, there is a mic input 3.5mm jack which can be used to plug in external mics and if you’re lucky, there could be a mic inside the box, if you’re pre-ordering it on Kickstarter. The camera is supposed to last for 180 minutes on a full charge (1850 mAH), which is pretty decent considering all the AI processing it has do, while recording 4K 60 fps on a micro SD card.
Powered by a Hisilicon processor, the OBSBOT Tail is an exciting beginning to 2019 where AI is looking to replace a lot of additional filmmaking work. I’m really excited for these kinds of AI cameras (yeah, am sure there’s going to be a lot of these this year) because recording myself is something I’m already doing and I can see why a tracking camera works so well for that scenario.
Get ready for AI cameras in 2019. If you want to be able to get one already, the OBSBOT Tail is available for pre-order on Kickstarter, starting at around a very respectable 500 USD, check it out and let me know if you are excited for the future as well!
