Over the years I have seen innovations that passed through mobile phones in a flash. The motorized cameras They were one of them: they became popular between 2018 and 2020 and then disappeared from the market as if they had not existed. Until Honor has arrived with his Robot Phonea phone that maximizes the bet of the original motorized cameras.
The brand brought its latest innovations to Barcelona, although the presentation had a bitter taste. The foldable Honor V6 It will still take a few months to arrive and the robotic mobile does not even have a date. Its state is experimental, it cannot be touched. It does allow you to invoke the camera using gestures.
A gimbal tied to a smartphone
Vivo has been including its gimbal mechanism in the X family for years, a three-axis stabilizer that simulates the stabilization accessory. But Honor’s bet is radically different, since the Robot Phone includes a authentic gimbal. And orchestrated with AI.
The idea behind the phone is to offer automated photo and video taking without us having to worry about keeping the person in focus or following them. The Robot Phone can do all that without the need for extra accessories: the rear camera deploys when commanded. Either from the phone settings or by gestures:
- The front camera must recognize the palm of the hand, like the photo application does to take a selfie without touching the phone.
- Once the detection is made, an icon appears on the screen to notify you. At that moment you have to turn your hand so that the robot camera comes out.
- The robotic arm is activated by coming out of its rear socket and facing the user.
- The process between detection and the moment the camera is active takes about ten seconds. It’s not fast, it still needs some polishing.
The gimbal of the robot camera consists of three axes with motors developed by Honor itself. The brand assures that they are the smallest in the world and that it has achieved reduce its size by 70% with respect to similar engines. The result of including this motorization is a very small, versatile and, according to Honor, very robust accessory. They use the experience and materials they already use in the hinges of the V-foldings.
More than a camera
Instantly attention-grabbing, you don’t expect a robotic arm to come out from behind a phone. That surprise ends up leading to empathy: Honor highlights the robot’s ability to interact with the user. For example, you can follow the rhythm of music by moving your head up and down. Or emphasize the conversation when we interact with the AI.
Honor proposes different use cases for the phone. It is a camera that follows the action, that avoids shaking and that can pan without moving the mobile. In addition, it is capable of becoming a co-worker thanks to AI: it can become a work co-pilot. All thanks to Honor AI already Gemini.
No specifications at the moment
As a proof of concept, we still don’t know much more about its technical sheet other than that it has a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as a processor and a 200 megapixel sensor for the robotic camera. The mobile has a solid construction (probably aluminum), straight edges and a screen that will not be far from 6.7 inches. It will be a premium range with all the law.
It is a risky concept and I don’t quite see its more practical side, but the curious one. For video recording I think it’s an excellent idea, also for those who want to record everything: the Robot Phone can identify the environment and react to what it sees. AI action tracking is one of its best capabilities.
It is still somewhat clumsy in practice, it is difficult to interact with the camera and You can see that the software is a bit green: The robotic camera did not always appear when making the hand gesture. And you had to close the capture application to try again. Live stuff.
The return of motorized cameras under the protection of AI
I remember having tested many mobile phones with cameras that were hidden in the phone to ensure that the entire screen surface was usable. He OPPO N3 He was one of the first, Asus Zenfone 6 It is another of the models that brings back the most memories: it allowed you to follow people taking advantage of the movement of the camera. The Honor Robot Phone has gone much further.
It is a mobile phone that is unlike any other, at least for now. It offers different solutions to all those who use the phone to record video. And embrace the great presence that AI is having in all technological devices. Because, if robots are one step away from get to our housesthe advance could well be the Robot Phone. If the cell phone one day comes to make my bed, I’ll sign it.
Images | Ivan Linares
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