A closer look at: Sony’s “Smart Social Camera”

One thing people seemed to be excited by at our #IFA2013 booth is Sony’s “Smart Social Camera”…

The idea for “Smart Social Camera” is pretty much two-fold – a) we believe that having great camera hardware in a smartphone isn’t enough, it’s bringing it together with software and connectivity to create the experience and b) after discussions with our users, we recognised a sense of frustration at having to scroll through the main app menu to find camera apps, which should be available much quicker.

We wanted to build a revolutionary camera experience that nailed great photos but also offered a far more holistic look at what a smartphone camera should be (and took away the everyday pain points, to create a fluid user experience).

Here’s a quick recap on the first, core Xperia camera apps that we showcased at IFA:

Social live

An app that allows you to stream video, live to your Facebook profile page. Incorporating live commenting and Likes by friends, and powered by tech from Bambuser, Social live is all about letting friends share an experience together through technology.

Info-eye™

Info-eye turns your Sony smartphone into a knowledge tool using image recognition technology. It’s powered by a number of smart plugins (such as Vivino & Trip Advisor), linking up Xperia Z1’s camera to give you the inside story on things you come across everyday; wine, books, barcodes and even landmarks. No cheating on the pub quiz picture round please?

Timeshift Burst

Designed to give that extra level of precision to photos, Timeshift Burst starts snapping upon subject focus. That way, you have a degree of leeway (approx. 2 seconds) to get the shot right. Timeshift Burst then allows you to scroll back and forwards in time to catch the exact moment you were going for, not just the one you got (61 images to choose from, to be precise…).

AR effect

Bored at dinner? Have some fun superimposing 3D dinosaurs (or aquarium scenes, and more…) on family members across the table. It’s a fun app that allows you to create augmented reality vistas as you capture. Whether it’s your friend singing to a fish or switching an urban jungle for an actual jungle, the AR effect is fun for kids from 6 – 60.

Source: Sony