Lily drone that follows user rakes in $34 million

If there were doubts about people wanting a drone that can follow them around, Lily Robotics has some good news. The company’s smart camera drone that can track and follow users has pulled in $34 million in pre-order sales of 60,000 units. However, Engadget expressed skepticism about the drone’s eventual success because shipping was delayed from February to summer. In some cases, products with lofty goals have trouble delivering on promises, as many Kickstarter and Indiegogo backers can attest. Still, the Lily Robotics drone is not the first with this concept. The Hexo+ and the AirDog were both shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2015. The AirDog uses a device called a leash that users wear on the wrist. It can then follow people while they are doing sports such as running or snowboarding.

The Lily drone is meant to be used for a similar purpose. Its camera can capture 12MP images and 1080-pixel videos at 60fps or 720-pixel video at 120fps. Lily is also splash-resistant and can land in the water. The GPS tracker the drone comes with allows user to control Lily and take pictures. It also goes with a microphone for recording audio of what is happening down below. While the pre-orders started at $499, the company intended to sell it for $999 at launch. Now, people will have to wait a bit longer for that roll out.

These kinds of smart drones are relatively new, so the technology is untested and not at the point of being widely adopted among smaller manufacturers. However, this is likely to change and it might not be long. DJI and Canonical teamed up for a drone-mounted computer, which increases the capability of a drone. These things are likely to get better and less expensive with time, especially in an age when SoCs are becoming more specialized for a variety of devices.