Now that selfies have become arguably the most popular form of self-expression in the smartphone era, it’s perhaps no surprise that we’ve seen a massive surge of innovation surrounding it.
The only problem is, most of the innovation has been frivolous in nature, only serving to perpetuate the “look at me” narcissism of the selfie generation.
The classic frivolous selfie innovation, of course, is the “selfie stick”. And don’t forget the cat selfie, the selfie-friendly fitting room, the selfie sombrero, and, yes, the 3D-printed selfie. The list of selfie innovations is nearly endless, most of them focused on ways to take better selfies, more creative selfies, or more viral selfies.
But selfie innovation might finally be getting serious. Just consider this:
The Giga Selfie
The Giga Selfie is a creative hybrid of a really long selfie stick and an automated selfie remote. To help smartphone-toting visitors to Australia take the perfect selfie photo in picturesque locations, Tourism Australia introduced the “Giga Selfie” service for select tourist destinations around the country.
After tourists install a selfie app from Tourism Australia on their smartphone and stand on special platforms installed by the bureau at key landmarks, everything else is handled automatically. The selfie app connects to the camera on the smartphone and directs the user how to pose for the perfect selfie from a variety of different angles.
The app remotely connects to a camera positioned as far as 111m away, which then snaps an image.
But that’s not all – the user is sent a downloadable video that starts with a close-up selfie shot and then zooms out to show the impressive scenery around them.
The Giga Selfie is being specifically marketed to Japanese tourists, a group that Australia found to be particularly fond of the selfie as a form of travel photography.
But it also opens up the door to other types of “selfie-as-a-service” businesses, catering to specific demographics of selfie fans who are interested in transforming a solo experience into one that is truly larger than life. – Washington Post