Drone manufacturer Zerotech has launched Dobby, an iPhone 6-sized drone that folds up to fit in your pocket, unfolding automatically when it’s ready for flight.
The flying robot has been designed for photography like many consumer-focused drones, but takes its pictures using voice controls and gestures, making it easier for users to operate. It also means any special moment can be captured instantly, without fumbling to find the right button on a controller.
If you’d rather not use voice controls, you can of course control the drone in a more conventional way using your Android phone or iPhone, or simply use gestures to make it fly higher, faster or change direction. Just remember waving your arms around the air may look a little odd to those on the ground.
It recognises your voice and gestures from up to 100m away, which is far enough to get some good height, but not too far that you may lose the drone as you navigate through the skies. To help it stay on track, Dobby integrates GPS / GLONASS dual-mode positioning or mounted optics and ultrasonics if there is no positioning signal.
Dobby is powered by artificial intelligence, meaning it can track objects and recognises faces using machine learning. The camera onboard is 13-megapixels for stills, allowing for video recorded at 4K resolution @30 FPS or 1080p @ 30 FPS.
Footgae and photos are automatically saved to a 16GB memory card, although there’s no indication of how much this will store or how long Dobby’s batteries will last for as it’s zipping around the skies. We would presume the size of the battery capacity is limited by the drone’s physical size, so it will probably be a little disappointing.
Zerotech’s Dobby won’t break the bank though – it’s available for just $499.99 (£378), which is a pretty good price for a drone with such a high-performance camera and pocketable design.
