Canon has revealed a brand new camera that looks straight out of the Pixar film WALL•E, and it uses "irresistible cuteness" to communicate in order to keep you healthy while sitting at your desk.
The Canon Posture Fit, debuted at CP+ 2021, is the manufacturer's latest concept camera, following the footsteps of the Canon PowerShot Zoom, Canon PowerShot Pick and Canon Ivy Rec that all debuted at CP+ over the years and have since made it into full production cameras.
Like its predecessors, the Canon Posture Fit is a design-led concept created to address a specific need: in this case, designer Taguchi observed his wife suffering with shoulder stiffness ever since she began working at her desk at home during the pandemic. So he dreamed up a camera to monitor her posture and tell her when she was sitting poorly.
"This is a device to monitor how you sit at your desk," he explained during Canon's Concept Camera Design presentation (below). "I use this device on my desk. When you sit down, it raises its head and looks around to find someone, then starts monitoring. It sees two things. The first is sitting for too long. For example, if you sit for 60 minutes, it notifies to stand and take a break.
Watch video: Canon Posture Fit camera reveal
"The second thing is posture. It is not a problem to have a bad posture for a short time, but continued poor posture can cause stiffness. This device calls attention to your posture. Finally, a long on a smartphone app helps visualize your habits. You can look back on your posture and how long you’ve sat through out the day, and the app will offer advice accordingly."
The camera doesn't capture the subject's face, or even the background, but instead monitors spinal position and provides an alert when you are sitting poorly. And it does this in the most adorable way: by wobbly on your desk like a "roly-poly toy design".
Initially the camera took the form of a webcam, but Taguchi didn't like feeling that he was being watched. By using the toy design, with the lens obscured, the device felt less intrusive. As for why the cute, toy-like movement? He surmised that traditional notifications – like on-screen pop-ups – were annoying and easily ignored, but he realized that a cute pet looking for attention is impossible to ignore. Thus, the idea was born to "communicate with cute movement".
As with all concept cameras, there is no guarantee that the Canon Posture Fit will make it to market. However, judging by Canon's track record with these products, and the general adorableness of this device, we're pretty confident that we'll be seeing it again soon!
Read more:
Best Canon cameras
Canon PowerShot Zoom review
Hands-on Canon Ivy Rec review
