This "Following Fan" Uses Computer Vision to Help You Keep Your Cool on the Move

Machine learning consumer electronic startup Following Fan has found an interesting use case for computer vision systems: Building a cooling fan that can track its user around a room, keeping them in the focus of its breeze.

"Few improvements have been made to fans since the oscillating fan was invented over 100 years ago. We are here to change that," claims Following Fan co-founder Nathan Oelke. "We have developed the world’s first person tracking fan that utilizes computer vision to always keep the fan pointed at you. Gone are the days of repositioning your fan when you move or restricting your movements to stay in the fan’s breeze."

"After several weeks of intense summer heat, Nate and AJ [Sakher, co-founder] had an epiphany: Build a robotic fan that uses computer vision to track the user's position and a motor to rotate the fan to stay pointed at them. They quickly built a prototype to validate the idea and it ended up solving the problem perfectly. After building more advanced prototypes and refining their invention, they are ready to share Following Fan with the world."

The overall design of the Following Fan is a simple oscillating pedestal-style fan. Where a traditional fan simply oscillates backwards and forwards to cover a room, however, the Following Fan puts the angle under computer control — and targets the nearest human through a computer vision system hooked into a camera mounted in the center of the fan grill.

Following Fan has applied for a patent on the technology, and is now crowdfunding on Kickstarter to produce the hardware at a price of $199 — a $100 discount over the device's eventual retail price.