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Intel: A tiny video drone? Disguised as a bracelet? Great! Take half a million dollars!
Nixie toy 'copter launches from your arm (not your ARM)
Vid Do you like drones? Do you like fashion? Do you want a drone that doubles as a fashion accessory?
No?
Well, too bad, because Intel has decided that the time is right for a quadcopter drone you bend and snap into an armband.
The chip-baking goliath said it was awarding the $500,000 grand prize for its "Make it Wearable" contest to Nixie, a team trying to build a wearable quadcopter video-recording drone.
The Nixie drone is supposed to be like a flying GoPro camera; smug owners wear the gadget during sports or other outdoor activities, and then launch the copter to capture images for subsequent humble-bragging.
The trio behind the design said the wristbands, which use Intel's Edison chipset, can unfold and launch with a simple gesture and automatically begin recording footage.
"Nixie is the first wearable camera that can fly. At your cue, Nixie unfolds and takes flight," Intel said of the project.
"Nixie composes the perfect shot from an awesome perspective, capturing the moment without interrupting the moment."
The team will receive a $500,000 check from Chipzilla after beating nine other finalists – the second-placed project (a 3D printer) got $200,000, and the third-placed gadget (a glove for factory workers) got $100,000. The US giant launched the competition to help give its pocket-sized PC hardware a little extra boost. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
