StyleShoots, a Danish design company, has developed a robotic photo studio which can capture fashion and product photos (almost) without the need of a photographer.

The studio photo booth is equipped with a Canon 1DX Mk II camera and 24-105mm STM lens attached to a 3-axis gimbal with a motor. It can move, slide, tilt and zoom by itself.

The machine uses a 3D depth sensor to track a model, who poses inside the booth, and AI algorithms can read the height of the model and assess other pieces of information to capture the best angles.

Within the booth are six high-CRI LED skylight panels and six striplights from Rotolight. It also comes with a reversible reflector to bounce light, and a neutral backdrop.

The booth is controlled by a human using an iPad, who uses StyleShoots software to control the brightness and chooses whether to capture stills or video. Everything else, including exposure settings and video editing, is handled by the machine.

StyleShoots’ pitch is that the machine is a ‘multi-platform content powerhouse’ – it can quickly and easily capture stills and video to use on the web, social media, and signage. ‘Within minutes, export auto-edited, formatted video and stills’ for Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and so on.

It’s ideal for a large commercial business requiring catalogue style fashion/product photography, rather than the stuff that finds its way onto the pages of magazines.
StyleShoots head of product and marketing, Anders Jorgensen, told Resource Magazine that the robot will not disrupt the photo industry.

‘To run a fashion shoot, you need a creative eye to compose the shot, pose the model and style the clothes,’ she said. ‘A robot can’t do that yet. So no, we’re not replacing a photographer as much as we’re fully giving those with that creative eye the ability to execute on their vision with speed and ease.’

Someone needs to operate the iPad – for now.

SyleShoots Live Studio also costs around €80,000 not including installation and shipping. So there better be lots of garments to photograph and sell to make buying the beast worthwhile.