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Who said that Microsoft’s experimental prototypes never make it to market (well, apart from Vista)? Now the Sensecam, first shown off way back in January 2008, and in the labs since 2003, has finally become a real, buy-able product.
Kind of. Microsoft may have dropped the life-recording camera like it dropped its PlaysforSure DRM business partners, but a company called Vico has licensed the tech and renamed it the Revue. The Revue is kind of like a Black Box recorder for your life.
Sling it around your neck and switch it on. The Revue will then use a variety of sensors to trigger the shutter, snapping a picture through a fisheye lens. The camera can detect temperature, infra-red motion, light color and brightness, and inside there is also an accelerometer and a compass. In short, the Revue probably notices more about your surroundings than you do.
The camera will snap a few photos per minute, storing them on its 2GB memory. The battery should keep things ticking for “at least” 12-hours.
But why? The main reason for the product is as aid for those whose memories are fading. Taking time to review the day’s events can help to train the memory, says the blurb. This can be done one picture at a time, or you can have the companion desktop (OS X, Windows or Linux) stitch it into a movie.
I see it as being a great way to record a day, or an event, without getting stuck behind the camera. Parties, festival, sports tournaments (especially if you are also participating) would all be better for a candid movie like this.
And what if you need some privacy? The Revue has a switch which will pause it for four minutes. That should be long enough to take care of any business. I’d grab one of these in a second if it weren’t for one thing: It costs $500.
Revue product page [Vicon via Oh Gizmo]
See Also:

Does SenseCam Make Any Sense?
Microsoft Digicam for Alzheimer's Relief
Microsoft Researcher Records His Life in Data

Fuente: Gadget Lab