Say What? Honor's New Robot Phone Thinks And Has A Camera That Watches Autonomously
Looking like a cross between Wall-E and a gimbal action cam, the camera module on Honor's new Robot Phone prototype has definitely gotten our curiosity piqued. Unveiled at the recent launch event for the Magic 8 phones, the camera can supposedly autonomously look around, respond to the user, and show emotions.
Robot Phone's camera is a motorized, 3-axis gimbal-mounted assembly that physically pops out of the back of the device (where the camera hump would traditionally be). Resembling a tiny, inquisitive robot, the mechanical arm allows the camera to swivel, rotate, and autonomously track subjects, much like a DJI Osmo Pocket, but integrated directly into the phone’s body. The teaser video above (appearing heavily AI-generated for that matter) showcases the robotic camera acting as an emotional companion of sorts. In one scene, the camera peeks out to play a game of peekaboo with a baby, while another shows it analyzing a user's outfit and seemingly offering a digitized critique. The camera arm is even shown capturing dynamic footage during extreme sports.
Within the video also nestles an alpha symbol rather than the company logo, likely pointing to Honor's (and the maybe the Robot Phone's) role in its Alpha Plan, which is a five-year $10 billion investment in creating human-centric AI devices. The central theme of the design is to give the phone’s AI a physical
presence, something that "senses, adapts, and evolves autonomously like a robot, enriching its users’ lives with love, joy, and wisdom.” Yes, those were Honor's actual words.
Despite a cheeky nod to the iPhone, the design of the Robot Phone ironically bears a striking resemblance to an iPhone Pro models. Not a bad thing, in our opinion. Also, while the concept is undeniably cool, the real world would probably cause all kinds durability and maintenance issues with the moving parts and all. Remember the pop-up selfie cameras on the OnePlus 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy A80? Those were known to face mechanical problems and don't offer any kind of dust-water resistance.
