On its CES stand, the company PowerVision unveiled a hybrid drone as strange as it is attractive. Taking the shape of an egg, the drone, which does not fear the rain, turns into a stabilized handgun camera and vice versa.
With its ostrich egg-like appearance, the PowerEgg X is one of the most unusual objects of this edition of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Designed by PowerVision, this egg is both a 4K camera with a three-axis stabilizer and a real drone capable of flying in the rain. The PowerEgg X can also be equipped with a tripod or a hand strap to act as a handheld camera. There is no screen to aim, but the video output can be done from a mobile.
The camera has 170° wide-angle optics and is capable of shooting in 4K at 60 frames per second. “The egg”, which weighs 522 grams, incorporates artificial intelligence algorithms to ensure recognition of faces and gestures and automatically follow the movements of a specific person while maintaining a focus on a specific element of the subject.
A drone that does not fear water
By adding motorized arms and propellers, the camera turns into a real drone, with the same video capabilities. Unlike many models, when the aircraft targets a person, it can also record its voice. It remains to be seen whether the sound of the propellers does not make the sequence inaudible.
As a bonus, this drone can also evolve in the rain, which is quite rare for a production model. By adding optional floats, it is even possible to make it land. With the supplied remote control, the range is 6 km according to the manufacturer. Still, in drone mode, the autonomy is 30 minutes according to the manufacturer. It spends almost 4 hours in camera mode.
The drone weighs 862 grams, which means that in France, its owner must have received approved training and registered the device on the public site AlphaTango. The PowerEgg X is available for pre-order for delivery at the end of the month in the form of two packs: Explorer (849 euros) and Wizard (1149 euros) which adds waterproofing thanks to a bubble for the camera module and its gimbal. Floats to attach to the landing pads are also available.