Google has trained its electronic brain to recognise smiles, human faces, dogs, cats and rapid sequences of movement.. “This camera gets at those moments,” Payne said his team had no mandate to develop a stand-alone camera.Some analysts are dubious that Clips will be a blockbuster in a marketplace crowded with digital cameras.But the device is nonetheless an important demonstration of Google’s advances in computer vision, a form of artificial intelligence focused on identifying objects, according to Cyril Ebersweiler, founder of the hardware business incubator HAX. Its price could prove too high to justify its narrow uses.The camera captures the best shots when subjects are about three feet away and in its frame. Payne said the gadget is not meant to be worn. It operates three hours on a charge. Clips is being sold at Google’s online store.The $249 device, which is designed to clip onto furniture or other fixed objects, automatically captures subjects that wander into its viewfinder.Each new gadget wires customers more deeply into its suite of services, which will be essential as Google competes with Apple, Amazon and Facebook to be a primary hub for entertainment and shopping. These images can then be downloaded and shared via smartphone. But casual photographers often cannot whip out their phones in time to catch the action. Lack of audio, limited battery life and privacy concerns could further limit Clips’ appeal.The company sees big potential with parents and pet owners looking to grab candid shots of kids and animals. It also intentionally avoided giving the camera a direct connection to the cloud.But Google’s bigger ambition is the mastery - and commercialisation - of artificial intelligence, an area where it is investing big.
The company has yet to dominate with its devices, though its Google Home smart speakers, Chromecast TV dongles and Pixel smartphones have all won high marks from consumers. Google executives say success requires tight integration between hardware and software, which is why the search-engine giant keeps plugging away at consumer electronics. Alternatives such as pet camera Petcube, for example, provide more functionality, including remote monitoring.Google is sharpening its focus with each effort. And many subjects become self-conscious when they know a camera is pointed their way.THE NEW CANDID CAMERAGoogle says Clips, which was announced in October, is the outgrowth of years of research into China truck side marker lights what people like about their favourite images.“There is gold in between the photos you take” with smartphones, Juston Payne, product lead for Google Clips, told reporters this month.But he said a dedicated device that could fade into the background proved to be the best solution for naturalistic photography. Measuring 2X2 inches and weighing two ounces, Clips can be hung from a drawer handle or a tree branch at the playground.Michael Kim, a product design consultant at Kim Advisory Capital, said Clips could be convenient as an “ambient photographer. They could have packed more software into smartphone cameras, for instance.Babies, dogs and artificial intelligence, Alphabet Inc’s Google is betting this combination proves irresistible with the launch of Google Clips, a pocket-sized digital camera that decides on its own whether an image is interesting enough to shoot.
