You can paw through books or search online to try an identify the strange bird visiting your garden feeder, or tap into the power of the Merlin Bird ID app. Now sports optics manufacturer Swarovski Optik has cooked Merlin smarts into a pair of high-end binoculars to name birds and other critters at the touch of a button.
"The AX Visio is not only a flagship project with which we are demonstrating Swarovski Optic's technological leadership in the sport optics market, but it also marks the beginning of a new technological era for us," said the Austrian company's CEO, Stefan Schwarz.
After five years of R&D, the AX Visio 10x32 binoculars blends "high-precision analog optics" with a neural processing unit powering an object recognition system, as well as a built-in 13-megapixel camera.
The user moves the dial up top to the bird or wildlife icon, brings the target creature into focus manually using the ring atop the bridge and then selects the target using buttons to the right. The system then consults the Merlin Bird ID or Mammal ID database – to help identify more than 9,000 birds and other wildlife – and the result is displayed onscreen. Other settings on the dial can activate the camera, a compass, or mark objects so that the binoculars can be handed to a friend, who will then be guided via direction arrows to the item of interest.
The binoculars work with the company's Outdoor app over Bluetooth, where images and/or videos can be stored or shared with friends, while also catering for future-proofing through system updates and potentially allowing third-party developers to come up with new digital functions for the system.
Acclaimed Australian designer Marc Newson is responsible for the overall look, with priority focus on "a modern appearance and intuitive handling for the smart binoculars, combined with an ergonomic design that feels comfortable to hold."
Launched at CES this week, the AX Visio smart binoculars will go on sale from February 1 for a whopping US$4,799. The video below has more.
Product page: AX Visio
