Photo Accessory News

Aurga is the newest “smart digital assistant” to hit the streets, enabling photographers to wirelessly control a DSLR with their smartphone from up to 100 feet away.

Billed as a device that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to “bridge the gap between digital cameras and smart technology,” Aurga features an app for iOS and Android devices that lets you remotely manage camera settings and perform both basic and more advanced photo techniques.

We’ve been following Aurga since it first popped up on Kickstarter, and were impressed that it met its $20,000 goal virtually overnight. Today, with just six days left in the campaign, this handy device has raised almost $97,000 in pledges. So what does Aurga do? Let’s take a look.

At its most basic level, the hot-shoe mounted device serves as a wireless remote for controlling exposure settings, camera modes, and tripping the shutter. The app also enables you to perform more sophisticated tasks like time-lapse and HDR photography, and has custom settings for shooting sports, portraits and other types of images.

But the real magic begins to happen when less-experienced photographers take advantage of Augra’s AI “learning system” that compares thousands of images in its database to determine optimal settings for the scene at hand, depending upon ambient light levels and other key variables.

This device could prove especially helpful for budding photographers who recently made the leap from a smartphone or point-and-shoot camera to a DSLR. Aurga also offers cloud storage and automatic WiFi transfer and backup, and makes sharing images on social media platforms quick and simple via the app.

You can find complete details, including camera compatibility, on the Aurga Kickstarter page, where you still have six days to pick up an Aurga with accessories for an early bird price of $99. You may also want to look at our earlier report on Arsenal, another wireless device that promises to help you take the perfect photograph.