Autographer: Take a Picture Without Missing the Moment

When you’re at a concert or event, do you spend most of your time watching the action through your smart phone instead of through your eyes?  Well, thanks to a new intelligent wearable camera called Autographer, you can capture thousands of still images without ever picking up your phone.

Autographer was developed by Oxford Metrics Group (OMG), a British company that’s actually been around for over 30 years.  The company came up with an intelligent wearable camera device for medical research to help jog the memory of people with brain injuries.  Soon, people began using it for other purposes instead of as a medical product, taking it art galleries and festivals.  That’s when a lightbulb went off in OMG Life managing director Simon Randall’s head.  He was working for Nokia at the time and realized there was a market for this type of wearable device.

“Being able to turn a camera on and not having to interrupt the moment you’re in and just enjoying the moment is a really big appeal,” Randall said.

The 3.5 inch-tall camera weighs only two ounces and has five built-in sensors that intelligently decide when to automatically take photos.  It has a 136 degree eye-view lens which simulates the human field of vision and 8GB built-in storage, which can hold between 16,000 and 18,000 pictures.  Users can either either clip it onto their clothes or wear it around their neck.  

Fans of wearable video cameras such as GoPro like it because it’s lightweight and they can document activities over a long period of time.  While people going to event enjoy it because they don’t have to interrupt what they are doing to snap a picture.

Randall explained that many people miss actually watching big moments live because they are glued to their camera or smartphone.  He told the story of someone at London’s 2012 Summer Olympics watching the 100-meter race. “He thinks he was the only person in the stadium actually watching the race with their eyes.  Every single other person in there watched through the screen of their smartphone or camera.”

The camera, which has built in software, works with a smartphone app via Bluetooth so you can preview, browse and share the images from anywhere.   You can also set modes, adjust capture settings and check your battery level and memory capacity. 

OMG Life, which has been selling the product in Europe since August, started selling the camera in December to US customers.  They debuted three new colors at CES 2014.