Updated 1/10/14: See our full hands on review of the FLIR ONE from CES 2014.
The FLIR ONE iPhone infrared camera case may be available as soon as spring of 2014. Leading up to the 2014 Consumer Electronic Show, FLIR Systems has identified the previously unnamed “sled” case as the new FLIR ONE. While exhibited in recent months as a prototype, the FLIR ONE will indeed see production this spring, priced at under $350. As detailed in our first post, the FLIR iPhone infrared camera case fits around the iPhone in two parts. One part remains on the iPhone and looks much like any thin protective case. A second, larger piece containing the battery pack and thermal camera core easily attaches and detaches from the iPhone to offer the user a fully featured infrared camera.
The FLIR ONE is for iPhone 5 and 5S, and will have a Lightning 8-pin connection rather than the earlier 30-pin dock connection. FLIR has done a great job of offering software that is Apple friendly, and we would expect to see an application available soon in the App Store, or perhaps integration with the existing FLIR Tools app. The prototype software has the ability to capture thermal images to the iPhone, and can even use the iPhone’s digital camera to combine visible and thermal images using FLIR’s MSX thermal image enhancement technology. As with other FLIR cameras equipped with MSX, presumable the FLIR ONE will store visible light images alongside the thermal images for better reporting and documentation.
We will have to wait a few more days until the CES unveiling to hear the exact specifications of the FLIR ONE infrared camera. The Quark core is capable of imaging up to 640 x 480, but FLIR has hinted that any production model would have to have lower resolution in order to be economically viable. At the advertised “under $350” price, though, even considerably lower resolutions would make this a very tempting diagnostic and night vision tool. Christmas might just be coming a little late this year.
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