When going out for fun, or taking selfies or other shots, people have become accustomed to recording with photos or videos. Nowadays, many people will use drones to open up a different perspective. But when it comes to drones, the key words people associate with them are "a bit bulky" and "too much trouble to learn how to control" ......
The pixy is the first drone from Snap that is quite small compared to the common drones available today, weighing only 101g with a battery and with a flat body no bigger than the palm of your hand, it's not too much of a burden on your luggage when you take it out and about.
▲ Image from: Snap
The pixy looks like a compact toy in Snap's signature yellow color, and when you take it apart, it's not too complicated to find out what's inside. Not only is the shape simple, but the way you manipulate it is also clear and easy to understand.
▲Image from: FCC
The pixy has two cameras on board, a front-facing camera for 12 MP photos or 2.7k 30 FPS video, 16 GB of flash storage for up to 100 videos or 1000 photos, and a fully charged battery for 5-8 flights in default flight mode.
▲Image from: Snap
In addition to the default flight mode, you can switch between the four flight modes using the dial on top of the pixy. You can make it float in the air, you can make it fly around the subject, and you can instruct it to follow the shot with hand gestures. ...... More importantly, none of these operations require a remote control to operate.
▲Image from: Snap
Not only is it easy to select the shooting mode, it's also fairly easy to control its takeoff and landing. To get it to take off, hold the front-facing camera up to a position aligned horizontally with your line of sight before pressing the button.
▲ Image from: Snap
If you need it to come back, just hold out your hand and the camera located at the base of the pixy will recognize the location and let him rest on your palm.
▲Image from: Snap
Once the flight is complete, the footage shot by pixy can be transferred wirelessly to Snapchat Memories, where users can then make quick edits in the app and share videos and photos on Snapchat or other apps.
▲Image from: Snap
It's easy to see from the whole process that the pixy, which offers different camera views, is actually a Snapchat accessory. Moreover, Snapchat has added a new 'Director Mode' to the app. This new video tool has new features like dual camera mode, green screen and quick editing to help users improve their ability to capture content from their phones.
▲ Image from: Snap
As a social app, with new hardware to go along with the software, Snapchat offers users who own a pixy more possibilities to shoot and share, and in doing so, users will be more motivated to share.
▲ Image from: Snap
Actually, this isn't the first piece of hardware developed by Snap. Prior to the launch of pixy, the company had developed Spectacles AR smart glasses. Although it also had a filming function, the smart glasses could only record the first view of the user compared to the drone, which had some limitations in terms of usage scenarios.
▲Image from: Snap
Of course, there are design improvements that could be made to the pixy, such as it being too light to use in high winds; it's also best not to use it on water and other shiny, reflective surfaces, as this could confuse the bottom camera it uses for autopilot; the pixy and its accessories are not waterproof and cannot be used in water; and a permit is required to use the drone in certain areas ......
▲Image from: Snap
While the pixy isn't a perfect product, the easy-to-use mode of operation, compact body, and not-too-high price ($249.99 for the pixy kit with storage bag and pack of dual battery chargers, with a $19.99 battery and $49.99 dual battery charger available separately on demand) make it less expensive to learn and use than a "big guy" like a DJI drone. The pixy is less expensive to learn and use than a 'big guy' like a DJI drone.
▲Image from: Snap
It's worth noting that Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap, has said in reference to pixy, "Snap doesn't intend to make a lot of money off of pixy, our goal is really just to get people to master it and use it."
▲Image from: Snap
Behind this lies Spiegel's bigger 'blueprint', with hundreds of millions of people using AR in the Snapchat app every day, but unlike Meta, which is rushing towards the metaverse, Snap is betting on the real world. spiegel launched pixy with the expectation that people would rather spend time in the (augmented) real world than a completely virtual one.