It Wasn’t an April Fool – Flying Selfie Stick is Real

Back on April 1st we tentatively reported the launch of a new drone out of Australia. It wasn’t any old drone, it was essentially a flying selfie stick. The report was tentative both because the product from Roam-e was arguably not a drone, and also because of the date of its release. Surely this was just a news release designed to poke fun at the self-obsessed? Apparently not.

Whether or not you agree that the Roam-e flying selfie stick is a drone, it still offers some impressive capabilities compared to its four-rotored competitors. If you can get over the fact that it looks like a flying er… – carrot? Let’s stick with carrot – there are some features that might interest aerial photographers.

The first is price. Roam-e’s seflie stick comes in at $399. For a camera that can stay in the air for up to 20 minutes off a single charge, that’s not bad at all. The 1080p camera can be put to good use through a number of clever software features. These include a facial recognition ‘follow me’ mode, which the drone uses to track you, apparently while avoiding obstacles.

In the social media age, more and more drones are being linked to the internet to allow for live streaming. The Roam-e is capable of taking 360-degree pictures that can be posted and streamed on Facebook.

“It’s hard to imagine someone running along the beach with a drone following them,” Internet of Things Group executive director Ian Duffell told HuffPost Australia.

“They’re a lot of fun and I don’t think they’re going to be annoying because they’re designed to operate in your space, not to fly away and spy on someone.”

Our verdict? While it’s certainly not going to be any more subtle than the current selfie stick craze, it’s hard to argue with the technology packed into this tiny device. Although at $399, there are certainly cheaper ways to take a selfie.