When Google first unveiled the Google Clips camera, I admittedly had a hard time seeing why this type of a product was needed. Sure, it can take pictures and GIFs of random moments with your family, but what would prompt anyone to use this instead of their phone?
Google Clips comes packed with a VPU (Vision Processing Unit) named Myriad 2 which was created by the Intel-owned Movidius. Currently, nothing is known about the clock speed of the device other than it’s an “ultra-low powered” chip. Google’s transitional quest to custom chips in their products should be of no surprise to anyone.
It’s paired with a 12 MP camera sensor and 16 GB of internal storage along with Bluetooth Low Energy. It also uses Wi-Fi Direct to transmit photos and video to compatible devices. It uses a custom AI Algorithm called “Moment IQ” that can detect faces, depth of background, and other related objects within a scene or area. Moment IQ, paired with the Myriad 2 VPU can, over time, learn individual faces and detect when a scene might be important to capture.
For example, if the Clips camera captures me in my living room alone with my dog Oliver more than once, it can isolate just me and my dog within a scene that may have four to five additional objects in it. Over time, it will know when my dog and I are in a room for a certain length of time that snapshots or videos might be useful, and Google Clips proceeds to capture the moment.
Moving past the obvious paranoia, this could potentially have a “myriad” of uses (pun intended). Surfing in Hawaii while having Clips attached to your wetsuit, could potentially create some awesome memories for family and friends. Want to enjoy the party you were invited to, but was asked to be the designated picture taker? Carry along Clips to capture those funny moments while you enjoy the party.
This, in theory, should replace the need to pull out your smartphone to take a picture or video at a party, or an event leaving you free to do other things. Google Clips, in practice, becomes your own personal photographer and videographer.
Currently, the Google Clips Camera is priced at a cool $249 USD.
Source: Intel, Google Store
