At this point, flying cameras that follow you around as your personal cameraman are nothing new. But clearly, not everyone likes the idea of a flying thing buzzing around. Even if you do, you may draw the ire of your neighbors. That’s not to mention flying cameras are far from cute.
The Beni, on the other hand, stays grounded, so there’s no risk of it falling out of the sky. Plus, it is adorable.
Beni isn’t a drone. OK. Maybe it kind of is, except it is one on wheels. It isn’t an action camera, but also kind of is in a non-traditional sense. It is a small autonomous all-terrain camera robot that goes around recording videos of you like a relentless paparazzo, except you are a willing “celebrity.” It is small and light enough to be stuffed into a backpack, so you can bring Beni wherever you are headed, ready for action.
Because it stays grounded, it can record footage in places where drones are not allowed to fly, and from a perspective you probably never thought you’d see. These days, we are accustomed to videos shot at eye level or from above. And it does all this without creating the buzz flying cameras do. Meanwhile, Beni records as it sees you from the ground.
It is just as capable as a regular drone, “pursuing” you while you’re mountain biking, skateboarding, hiking, running, skiing, and more. At the end of the day, the built-in AI can even help you create a video using highlights from the day’s footage.
Beni Camera Robot shoots in 4K HDR at 30 fps. It can also capture 3K at 60 fps or 1080p at 100 fps for slow-motion scenes. As far as privacy goes, the data is kept on-device on the 32 GB internal storage. It also has a microSD slot. It boasts smart auto-follow with multiple filming angles, including following from behind, the side, the front, or orbiting around you. And it, of course, has built-in obstacle avoidance to keep you in frame.
It jumps, too. It can clear obstacles up to 25 cm (10 in.), and if it flips over, it can recover on its own. Oh, right. Thanks to the jumping ability, it can go up stairs. Though I’d imagine it would be taxing to the battery. Speaking of battery, it has a swappable battery, each offering up to 1.5 hours of operation. To better tackle both paved roads and challenging off-road terrain, you can swap to optional off-road wheels.
Finally, it is cute. Unlike drones, which feel like cool killing machines from a post-apocalyptic world stalking you, Beni is expressive. It can nod, shake its head, and play games with you. While you can ask it to be your autonomous camera person, you can also manually commandeer it using a smartphone app or a futuristic-looking wrist-mounted controller.
Beni Camera Robot has only a couple of cons that I can think of. It cannot capture your activities from the sky (like, duh), and if you head out onto the water, well, it is not going to follow you there either.
However, it has several advantages. It is quiet, unlike a drone, and it is not restricted by regulations in the same way flying drones are. It works well indoors and outdoors, which you cannot say about traditional drones. It can follow you autonomously through forests, parks, city streets, and even indoors without attracting nearly as much attention.
OK. Maybe it will attract attention, but in a different way. I mean, who can ignore an adorable little robot tagging along behind someone, right?
The Beni Camera Robot is a creation of Mondo Robotics, and it is currently being funded on Kickstarter. Prices start at US$549 for early backers, with a planned retail price of US$799. At the time of this post, Beni has already rolled in over US$1.7 million in funding from more than 2,700 backers. So yes, the campaign is a go.
All that’s left is for the campaign to end and for Mondo Robotics to fulfill its end of the bargain. Shipping, if all goes as planned, will commence in October 2026. This being a crowdfunded campaign, it does come with the usual risks.
Images: Mondo Robotics.