Phenox Lab manufactures intelligent, programmable aerial robots. Their product line aims to be, in addition to flying drones, a programmable platform for flying apps.
Phenox Lab was born in 2012, founded by the two young, promising students Ryo Konomura and Kensho Miyoshi at the Artificial Intelligence Lab (AI lab) of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Tokyo.
Ryo Konomura, the chief engineer, is a PhD candidate at AI Lab. Kensho Miyoshi, the interaction designer and engineer, is a Master student at AI lab. The Phenox Project was selected by the IPA MITOH Program, which aims to discover innovative IT Human Resources in Japan.
Phenox is an intelligent, programmable flying drone. One of its interesting characteristics is its ability to fly without any external controls. Using various sensors and cameras, the unit can respond to the motion of a glove worn by the user, as well as to the user’s voice. Using the motion-based control system, a person has the drone hovering over his or her hand.
In 2014, the company mounted a Kickstarter campaign for their 4th prototype of Phonex. They far exceeded funding and are now developing instruction booklets, PR campaigns, and plans to manufacture multiple units. Shipping of the production run will begin on Aug. 1, 2014.
