Lily Camera Drone Makes Aerial Photography So Easy A Caveman Could Do It

Prepare to meet Lily, the world's first throw-and-shoot camera and the first product from Lily Robotics. Lily is self-flying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) camera that is designed to follow you, committing your movements to video and/or still photos, via a small circular GPS-enabled tracker that you keep on or near you. 

A single tap on the tracker gets the party started, readying Lily to follow a defined set of commands, all while maintaining a tight focus on you. And armed with a camera that company CTO and co-founder Henry Bradlow says is roughly equivalent to the GoPro Hero 3, Lily is able to deliver the results of that focus in the form of 1080p video at 60fps, 720p video at 120fps, or in 12-megapixel stills. The camera can produce a slick 360° panorama, can fly up to 25 miles per hour, is completely waterproof, lasts up to 20 minutes on a charge, and has a range of up to 100 feet. And you can set the distance for the Camera UAV, and indicate whether you want it to fly in front, in back, to the side, or in circles around you. On top of all of that, Lily is also sensitive to changes in elevation (moguls, you know), and there is even tech aboard that can detect when to automatically kick the camera into slo-mo.


The stigma of being a drone...er, unmanned aerial vehicle aside, Lily aspires to be a groundbreaking camera... and a groundbreaking flying camera at that. It is able to give chase from above while you fly down the slopes or shoot out of a barrel curl on your board, capturing your exploits without need for anything more from you than a toss into the air. And as though super-cool aerial imagery weren't enough, Lily also has a built-in microphone, so you can capture every ooo-aaahhh, squeal, and profanity-laced tirade.

Lily is still in the prototype stage, and thus it won't ship until February 2016. Those intrigued (and monied) enough to commit at this early date, though, can benefit from $499 pre-release pricing, whereas those who opt to wait until Lily is released will have to fork over $999 for their Lily.