Last October, Google announced its brand new camera, Clips, a device that works through artificial intelligence and is smart enough to capture the perfect moment and knows exactly when to snap a picture.
The company has been quiet about any detail of the device, and as of January 27th, it has quietly begun selling. However, there’s a waitlist, as Google appears to have stopped taking purchase orders for the device.
It’s directing potential customers to be assigned to a waiting list and will notify them through email when the camera returns to stock.
Its price range reaches $249 and its size is less than 2 by 2 inches, the Clips takes the load off the user’s shoulders when they want to take a photo, as the camera recognizes when it’s the appropriate time to keep a memory.
“Google Clips is smart enough to recognize great expressions, lighting, and framing. So the camera captures beautiful, spontaneous images. And it gets smarter over time,” Google’s website reads.
I'm excited to share how we approached the UX of AI for #GoogleClips, including what it's meant in practice to take a human-centered approach to designing machine learning algorithms https://t.co/LEzXcShyGp
— Josh Lovejoy (@jdlovejoy) January 25, 2018
Google Clips raises security concerns among potential users
Many have expressed concerns about what the device could mean for their security, as they find the product to be “invasive and creepy”.
Some of the criticism that the public has thrown over the Clips, is how easily it would be to subject to blackmail and gather endangering and incriminating information about an individual without them knowing, especially in a society where everything is hackable.
David Gray, a University of Maryland professor and surveillance experts states, “I do think there is a demonstrable effect on expectations of privacy — in terms of insulation from surveillance — that is just disappearing as the consequence of the development and deployment of these devices.”
In response to this, Google’s product manager, Juston Payne claims the team behind the company prioritized this concerns and only keeps the picture on the device and turns on a light whenever a picture is being taken.
“The really big investment we made on this is… all of the processing is on the device,” Payne said. “It means the user is in total control of your data.”
Google Clips: Specs and features
With 16 GB of storage, the Google Clips will provide the user with a camera with a battery life of up to 3 hours, including WiFi, USB C and BlueTooth accessibility a 130-degree field of view and will be able to take “motion photos” in times where a phone or a regular camera are not nearby.
Along with these features, it also shoots at up to 15 frames per second and selects for stable, clear shots of its subjects.
Source: Mashable
