Nixie Labs Nixie

Lore & Background

According to Wired, the first Nixie prototype was built by Christoph Kohstall after tinkering with a quadcopter he received as a gift. He built a drone model of eyeglasses with propellers and a prototype that could dive underwater. To address poor usability of quadcopters, he conceived a 'flying wristband' with a camera. Kohstall's partner Jelena Jovanovic helped create the first prototype and later became project manager. Together with Michael Niedermayr, they entered the 2014 Intel's Make It Wearable competition as team Nixie led by Kohstall. The team became a finalist on September 3, 2014, receiving mentorship, design assistance, technical support, and $50,000 for further development. They presented the final prototype at the competition finale on November 3, 2014, winning the $500,000 grand prize.

Nixie was worn as a slap bracelet and weighed less than 45 g. It captured full HD images or video, synced with a smartphone, and used an Intel Edison chip. In October 2014, prototypes had good functionality but lacked durability and design perfection. An important engineering challenge was identifying flexible, light, and durable materials. In November 2014, an updated prototype added image recognition to identify the user, with primary goals of improving propellers, motors, and object navigation. The drone was named after Nixie, a playful water spirit of Germanic mythology. In the media, it was described as a 'wearable selfie drone' and 'wearable camera drone', with images nicknamed 'dronies'. Developers emphasized it was intended for framing-worthy pictures, not only selfies.

Nixie used sensors and motion-prediction algorithms for four pre-programmed flight modes: boomerang (flies a set distance, takes a photo, returns), panorama (fills a 360° arc), follow me (trails the user as a third-person camera), and hover (for jib shots, controllable from a smartphone). Developers planned to market Nixie first to rock climbers, then to a general audience. As of March 2016, the device was in development and not commercially available. On December 26, 2017, Nixie Labs stopped doing business and surrendered its corporate registration in California.

Reader's Guide

Nixie's significance lies in its early attempt to merge wearable technology with aerial photography, winning a major competition against more than 500 participants. The $500,000 seed funding from Intel's Make It Wearable competition was intended to develop the prototype into a product, with developers aiming to create the next generation of point-and-shoot cameras. The project highlighted engineering challenges in miniaturization, material durability, and object navigation. Despite media attention and over 5.9 million YouTube views, Nixie never reached commercial availability. The company ceased operations on December 26, 2017, surrendering its California registration. Its legacy is as a notable concept that presaged later wearable and selfie drones, though it failed to become a market product. The developers' focus on niche adventure sports like rock climbing, and the drone's four pre-programmed flight modes, demonstrated early thinking about autonomous aerial photography for consumers.

Did You Know?

• Nixie was named after a playful water spirit from Germanic mythology.
• The drone weighed less than 45 grams and was worn as a slap bracelet.
• It won $500,000 in seed funding at the Intel Make It Wearable competition on November 3, 2014.
• Nixie Labs stopped doing business and surrendered its California registration on December 26, 2017.