You may love it, you may hate it, or you may even be indifferent to it, but you can't deny the popularity of the 'Selfie'. While it is admittedly quite a struggle to manage over-enthusiastic selfie-takers in many public places, so much so that that the Japanese city of Kyoto recently banned selfies in its historic Geisha district, the selfie remains ever-present. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that we've more or less been inundated with several, selfie-specific apps, each claiming to be better than the next. However, this company might just take the cake. Spelfie.com has introduced the "world’s longest selfie stick", which is somewhat of a misnomer because what they're actually talking about is an app that takes selfies from space. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Spelfie.com lets users click a selfie at the exact time that a satellite cameras captures their location (from space).
A spokesman from Spelfie, Anthony Burr, said that the app is working on reducing time lag, and images should be available within minutes instead of hours in the future. The app relies on Airbus satellites, as was demonstrated in a BBC documentary about an environmental campaigner in Bali that aired on 18 November. The documentary showed people from an Indonesian village positioned to spell out the words 'Act Now' on a beach, while the image was captured on camera from space.
How Does This Work?
1.) If you use the app, select an event you will attend. Once you are at the venue, the app will provide you with coordinates, so that you know precisely where and when to position yourself.
2.) Once you're at the correct location, take a selfie at the decided-upon time. At that exact moment, a satellite is taking an image of your location.
3.) A few hours later, the app will juxtapose the satellite's image with your selfie and send you back the picture, which you can view in the in-app gallery. Congratulations, you now have a Spelfie (space selfie).
The Glasgow-based Spelfie.com is collaborating with tourism boards to rake in more visitors. One tourist hotspot making use of the company's services to promote its pristine landscapes and marine environments is the ever-popular Seychelles. The app is primarily aimed at people attending major sporting and cultural events and was tested at this year's Glastonbury Festival in England.
While it is still being developed, in its second phase of development the app wants to let users take a 'Spelfie' anywhere in the world, and not restrict itself to specific events with large crowds. Users will simply be alerted when a satellite is likely to pass over them. While there is nothing stopping anyone from joining this latest fad, influencers in Delhi and other heavily polluted metropolitan cities across the globe might have to reign-in their ambitions, since even this advanced technology won't be able to capture a space-to earth picture in thick smog.
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