You know what’s going to be weird in 5 years? trying to remember a time that the air around you was not swarming with tiny drones. We’ve seen inexpensive DIY drones before, but Hex — a fully customizable, hackable nanocopter you can control with your smartphone — takes the cake. It also takes pictures, so privacy lawyers, start your engines!
Hex has only been on Kickstarter for a day, but it’s already crushed it’s $10,000 funding goal, raising more than $34,000 as this post goes to press. While that means the super-cheap early backer gifts are all gone, Hex still looks like a bargain. You can control the copter using any iOS or Android device, and upgraded versions come not just with cameras, but a pair of goggles that live feed Hex’s camera right to your eyes, letting you feel like you’re in the air.
Hex is also customizable on both the hardware and software ends. Arduino-heads can reprogram the little bot, while anyone with access to a 3D printer or CNC machine can print out wide varieties of new bodies for the kit. In short, it’s pretty much destined to be the toy at the top of every nerd’s wish list this year.
Check out the video below to see a wide variety of the different flavors of Hex in action. And once you have, feel free to start dropping subtle hints about what you’d like for the holidays.
(via The Next Web, image via Kickstarter)
- Don’t take your Hex to Colorado. They shoot drones, don’t they?
- MeCam is always watching. It sees ALL!
- This is way cooler than paper airplane drones, which are still pretty cool
