This Incredible Selfie-Taking Wrist Drone Just Won $500,000

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Nixie_1

The Creators Project/Intel and VICE

Nixie prototype.

This little machine is taking photography to new heights.

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Thought it's still being developed, Christoph Kohstall, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University, hopes that Nixie will be the next big thing in selfies. And the $500,000 it just won from Intel may help it along.

The Nixie is a tiny, wearable drone with built-in camera and foldable bands that attach it to your wrist. The plan: With a simple gesture, Nixie flies off your arm, snaps your photo from the air, and returns - boomerang style - to your wrist.

The design impressed judges at Intel's Make It Wearable contest - a competition among developers of innovative, wearable technology - and they awarded Nixie the grand prize of half a million dollars, enough to work out some of the product's kinks and start turning it into a commercial reality.

Nixie's capabilities will be most useful in settings where third-party photographers are unavailable or impractical, whether that's getting a bird's-eye view of an extreme rock-climbing adventure, or just taking a simple selfie.

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The Creators Project/Intel and VICE

Takeoff needs a little work, but you get the idea.

drone selfie

The Creators Project // YouTube

Drone selfie. By Nixie.

At least, that's the concept.

Some of the other finalists in the Make It Wearable contest included a robotic prosthetic hand, a device that monitors skiers' kinetics and physiology, and a broadcast system that shows players' perspectives during sports matches.

Check out the full video below: