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The Autographer aims to capture images throughout our day - our own life analytics.

Go to » Mirroring vision / Practical Use / Further reading

Autographer is the world’s first intelligent, wearable camera which the company behind it, Oxford Metrics Group (OMG) describes as enabling users to, ‘see the unseen’. The idea is for the user to wear the camera all day – it is small and light and designed to be worn like a necklace – while it takes photos of its own accord. For this to work the camera has five on-board sensors and a GPS unit. Autographer knows when to take a picture based on subtle changes in light, colour, motion, temperature and direction. In essence, it’s creating our own visual life blog, a step towards personal daily analytics if you will.

The lens is designed to mirror your own vision, with a 136 degree wide angle view. When the camera is turned off the ‘eye’ which houses the lens turns yellow – an important feature not for the user but for those around him/her concerned with privacy by knowing whether or not the camera is taking pictures.

Mirroring vision

The photos are compiled and turned into a stop-frame video showing your whole day in a matter of minutes – you can view this on a smart phone as well as a computer.

Photos are compiled and turned into a stop-frame video showing your whole day in a matter of minutes

Nick Bolton, OMG’s Chief Executive Officer believes the camera can make a practical impact on people’s everyday lives:

“We have always believed that this particular imaging technology could have a wide range of applications and today we have a product that proves it…now the real excitement of seeing just what Autographer can do begins.”

The aim is that the Autographer will be used as an anonymous accessory.

Chauhan Studio led the strategy on the design, and Director Tej Chauhan explains that that an industrial look and feel underpinned the craftsmanship.

“Wearable technology often looks “geeky” or otherwise out of place when worn. OMG Life partnered with us to develop a design that was quietly expressive yet unobtrusive, something that would look harmonious when worn across different styles and attitudes. This has been achieved by experimenting with different iterations of the outer body, eventually crafting relatively simple surfaces and channelling expression to the lens area. It came to serve a bigger purpose by becoming the brand signifier for this and any future developments that may be needed.

“The Autographer can be worn in lots of different ways: clipping, hanging, tethering and in various combinations. A range of innovative accessories were designed for this purpose and the team used materials and colours that created a cool contrast with the high-tech device.”

Practical use

Traditionally speaking, a photo is a planned composition – you take a photo of friends or family and they look on with fixed grins – and the result is quite often predictable and uninteresting. Autographer’s ability to take automated photos, on the other hand, captures completely uncontrived moments and shows the world in its natural state.

The Autographer can be worn in lots of different ways: clipping, hanging, tethering and in various combinations

The device is based on a predecessor called the SenseCam, a less sophisticated version of the camera which was designed to create a visual history for people suffering from memory loss such as those with Alzheimers. The Autographer, on the other hand is for the commercial market, and it will be interesting to see whether it becomes a novelty device or if it enters the mainstream.