Antigravity's latest announcement for its A1 drone is not a successor but a new accessory package called the Follow Me bundle. It includes propeller guards, a watch remote and a ring remote, and is designed to enable hands-free shooting and more accurate tracking. The bundle is available as a complete package with the A1 drone for $799, or as an accessory kit for $340. Existing A1 owners can get a substantial discount, priced at $272.
The watch and ring pair adds several functions to the drone. The watch's built-in GNSS combines with visual tracking to lock onto moving subjects more reliably. The pair also works as a gesture-control system, so users don't need the one-handed controller and bulky goggles to fly the A1 and capture footage. The new Drag-to-Fly gestures require selecting the tracking subject on the watch display, then holding the Ring Remote's button, which triggers an audible confirmation and vibration on the watch.
The hardware has drawbacks. The watch is chunky and resembles an Apple Watch knock-off from about 10 years ago, with a touchscreen, a manual button and USB-C charging. It offers roughly five hours of use when paired with a drone. The ring is even more fragile, with a delicate Velcro strap. In testing, the gestures worked responsively: moving the hand left, right, up or down steered the drone, and rotating the arm inward or outward changed its distance. Some quirks remain, such as the need to release and re-press the button to adjust both direction and altitude.
Antigravity recommends the bundle for outdoor flying with at least 2 meters of vertical clearance. An experimental feature reduces that to one meter at the user's own risk. The reviewer concluded that the new control method is appealing because it removes the need for a camera case's worth of accessories to pilot the A1.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing