You can try, but it's impossible to get out of the way of the selfie generation (unless you go full-on hermit). Everyone from children to frat boys and politicians have been overtaken by this narcissistic display of self-worship. But for the most part, unless you were in front of a mirror or have freakishly long arms, the art of the selfie has been deceptively hard to master.
That may change soon.
The ZANO drone has been successfully funded on Kickstarter, and the tiny quadcopter drone might be the perfect selfie machine:
Aside from being the cutest little drone ever made, the ZANO could very well be a big step forward. Drones are all the rage for professional and semi-professional photographers right now, but the price is still a major barrier for the average consumer. On top of the price, most of the more highly-recommended drones are still rather large; most people won't want something that's the size of a dog just for taking pictures or video.
The ZANO seemingly solves all of those problems: it's small and light enough to hold in one's hand, and the Kickstarter project could help bring the price down to a reasonable level. There are plenty of people who are waiting for exactly those things before buying a drone, and if the ZANO can make good on its promises, it could really take off (pun totally intended).
If there's any one thing going against the ZANO, it's the picture quality. The gesture-based controls and the smartphone app could be upgraded with patches or software fixes if there's a problem at launch, but nothing will fix a crappy camera. Right now, the ZANO is somewhat limited by its size, and the video does show some compression when it comes to picture quality. There's always some compression to be expected, but the ZANO's quality might not be up to snuff for some people. It's an issue that could be addressed further down the line with subsequent models, but early adopters may simply have to adapt.
At the very least, the ZANO project has been funded. What's even better is that the ZANO has shattered all of its stretch goals, meaning that functions like 'swarming' (controlling multiple units from one device) and developer tools will be available upon release. There are also a litany of customization options as rewards for backing the project, so if you want your ZANO to glow in the dark, just make a donation!
With roughly 20 hours left before the project ends (as of this writing), there's still time to secure a model for yourself. The cheapest tier that yields a ZANO drone is priced at £139, or roughly $165 USD. It's a bit pricy, but still far cheaper than most other drones.
ZANO could really pave the way for pocket-sized drones in the future: if you want to grab one early, head on over to the official Kickstarter page.
