Google has introduced a surprise new device.

Shortly after announcing new Home Max and Home Mini speakers, as well as new Pixel phones and so much more, Google brought out a camera that uses artificial intelligence to capture moments that you might otherwise miss. So, if your grandma doesn't like her photo to be taken, you can creepily place the Google Clips camera in your house so that it automatically take photos for you when she visits.

The camera is able to capture soundless video of things that it is trained to recognise, whether that be faces or pets. In a demo on stage, Google seemed to market Clips toward parents and pet owners, so if your dog or baby is camera shy too, you can plant this thing somewhere in your home, and again, it'll smartly capture moments for you, allowing you to focus on interacting with your kid or baby.

Googles hands-free Clips camera uses AI to capture candid moments image 1
Google

The key here is that it uses artificial intelligence to capture the right moment. It essentially looks for specific moments, whether it's your child cooing or your dog laying on his back, belly up, and it'll get smarter over time. It has a 12-megapixel sensor and 130-degree field-of-view lens, and it takes photos at 15fps. It also has 8GB of internal memory and 3-hour-of-continuous-use battery.

When the camera is on, an LED light will shine, letting people know they are being photographed. Yeah. We're assuming Google is trying to avoid privacy issues by adding the LED light. Anyway, Google said you can export any recordings as video, photos, or GIFs. They transferred over to devices through Wi-Fi. But Clips is only compatible with Pixels, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S8.

If any of that interests you, the Google Clips camera will be available for $249. It comes in a white-and-teal colour. There's a waitlist now that you can join from here. No word yet on UK pricing or availability. Check out Pocket-lint's event guide here for more information about what Google announced at its 4 October 2017 event. You can also visit Pocket-lint's Google hub for hands-on pieces.