MadMode

I've been telling people about this idea for years: a camera that you just wear all the time--part of your glasses, say--and then when you see something cool--like the three deer that crossed the road as I was driving my boys to school this morning, you just hit a button to say "keep that!" or "send it to mom" or "post it to youtube".

Well, the future is here. I didn't even have to go looking for it. It just fell on my head (well, in my inbox) a few minutes after I was searching for some gizmo or other.

Dear Amazon.com Customer,
Customers who showed an interest in hands-free Bluetooth devices might like to know about the new Looxcie camcorder system available now. 

It's a souped-up bluetooth headset rather than souped-up glasses. Where I imagined keeping the last 15 minutes or so, this thing keeps 5 hours of recent history, and 4 hours of saved video. And it integrates with smartphones for sharing. But the "Instant Clip" button is the exact feature I had in mind:

Looxcie Hands-Free Camcorder

• Wearable camcorder continuously videos everything you see
• Instant Clip button lets you retroactively save 30-second clips
• Review and edit video using your compatible smartphone
• Share video instantly via Facebook, YouTube, or email
• Automatically stores up to five hours of footage

I just drained the piggy-bank on a Samsung Vibrant Android Phone, so I won't be an early adopter on this one. But I hope to stay tuned for reviews and I look forward to the day when they're available on craigslist or ebay.
p.s.

I wonder how many patents are involved in this thing. I can't believe I didn't publish the idea before this hit my inbox. I spent over a decade mentoring staff at W3C to publish early and often, and I formed good habits as far as getting any code I write out on the public Internet, but not so with blog items, yet. Live and learn.