With the FLIR ONE case, you can instantly transform your phone into a high-tech infrared seeking device – all you have to do is slip it on. FLIR stands for “forward-looking infrared device” and it basically detects heat and translates it into a composite image that can be photographed, recorded or viewed live. The thermal image registers onto your phone in bright red, orange and yellow tones, signifying heat.
About FLIR ONE
Weighing over 3.9 ounces, it’s almost as heavy as the iPhone itself. The initial case designs available for immediate release are meant to fit the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 5s. It also comes with a companion app that allows you take videos or photos with “heat vision.”
The case comes with its own internal battery that claims to last up to two hours. If your phone is running low on juice, you can also use the case to fuel up.
How it works
The human eye can only detect the visible spectrum. It cannot detect infrared light signatures, which exhibit heat or thermal radiation. The FLIR ONE case translates this image into a spectrum our eyes can detect, allowing us to see what would be otherwise invisible. What’s so cool about this technology is it can detect heat even if it’s hidden in the dark or behind opaque objects. You’ll never lose a game of hide and seek with the FLIR ONE in hand!
Practical applications
Infrared thermal technology is more popularly used in law enforcement, security or in warfare, but did you know that it can also actually be useful in home improvement and repair?
Aside from allowing you to see living things in the dark or behind walls (your hiding pet or rodents like mice and raccoons), you can also use this technology to detect thermal leaks in your home or commercial building. This way you can accurately and instantly check if your ventilation or insulations systems are working in top condition. You can also run it on your electrical panels to see if you have any circuits that are overloaded. It might even be possible to spot moisture buildup and water intrusion in your walls that could result in mold.
The case costs 350 dollars each and it will be shipping to people who pre-ordered by the end of this month. FLIR ONE will also produce cases for Android devices, set for commercial release by the end of 2014.
$350? Wow that’s a lot of money for a case, I mean sure it detects heat and stuff but I don’t really see that much of a practical use for it if you’re a typical user. If you’re somewhat of a maintenance guy you’d probably need one of these.
I really like this product, I can see a lot of practical uses for it, most notably being able to see where heat is escaping from a house. You could potentially save yourself money by find that out. It is expensive however, $350 is a big chunk of change and unless you are going to use it for business ventures it is an expensive toy.
The good point is that there will be less expensive versions down the road, so if the price drops a little I might become interested. Oh, and if they release a model for the iPhone 6 🙂
I will definitely pick one up. In my line of work energy has to be closely monitored and heat vision through my phone will be absolutely fantastic. Considering how current thermal cameras go for , this alternative is substantially cheaper.
Ah! I didn’t even think of being able to use it to track heat loss in a house! That is a wonderful application of this sort of tech. Of course, the price tag is definitely too high for the basic consumer using it for little one off projects.
Still, excellent idea, Phil!
Wow, I won’t pay that much money for a case. But it’s great to see through walls and find some gas leaks or where the coolest part of your house is. But I don’t really see any everyday practical use for it when it comes to your usual consumers.
I’m not sure what to think of this. It’s fairly useful yes but for individual use, it’s fairly not that convenient of a product. I mean, you’re paying $350 for something that is, yes fairly useful but not going to come in handy for everyday use. I can see this getting wind off businesses and companies but for normal everyday households, well not quite.
I saw a YouTube video of someone using this during the ALS challenge and it was kind of interesting. I think I was more-so surprised someone would put out the money for it, but I’m sure it has its perks beyond what I can reasonably think of.
In any case, always love the innovative types of gadgets or addons for smartphones nowadays. I’m sure it will only get better in time.
Well it is quite a neat product but the $350 price tag it seems like a very niche market product. Sure it would be nice to have an excellent night vision device. But the cost will limit it to those that either need it or have a lot of pocket change.
Oh my goodness. I had a hamster a while back who managed to jump out of his fenced in playground area and squeezed himself through the heating register in the floor. It took us a week before we were able to track him down and fish him out! This would have been amazing to have then!
My husband works in pest control and something like this would probably be fairly useful for him- and the price would be worth it for the amount of use it would get. I’m going to have to let him know about this!
No hamsters were harmed in the making of this post 🙂
This is a great invention but I would say that the price is a little high. You can practically buy a new phone with$350. I understand that this phone case detects heat and can be very useful to many people but I highly doubt that it will sell much. I most definitely will not buy this product because of the price.
Wow this case is fantastic but for a casual users like me the price tag seems to be a problem here. $350 bucks you can buy a brand new phone but nevertheless i’m amaze on how far our technology move forward.
From what I have read in the article, the target consumers are very specific and is not marketable for the general public, mainly because, this is not for the general public. Imaginepeople, having this device just to prank people ( Someone calling someone from afar, but can see what you arw doing inside of your residence, and yes that way too creepy).
Anyway, the device itself is great and very useful for the target market. I hope that after the release, all the products will somehow be regilated and would be sold to people with proper use for them. 🙂
Hahaha, I love this. That’s some nice technology, brilliant design, especially the extra fuel, sometimes you need extra phone usage time when your phone battery is about to die. Especially the heat detecting technology, especially when it’s latent inside a case, that’s something of much practical use and as the description rightfully says, it has got a lot of domestic use. But 350$? It’s a little bit overpriced, something a bit cheaper and I’d buy one right away
This is so cool! The video was interesting. I can’t think of a daily need I would have for this app but I would probably get it just to play around with it. This is probably one of the cooler apps I have ever seen. It’s always nice when technology blows you away like this.
Although there are a lot of practical uses for this product, wouldn’t it also be open for other bad uses as well? If this is available to the average consumer, some people with different intentions could use this product in order to spy on someone inside of their home/private quarters without actually having to see inside. I would hope that the technology is not strong enough to do this, as this is a very serious issue that could affect the privacy of many.
This sounds really interesting. Don’t know what it could be really useful for standard consumers, but I know of uses for others. Might have to pick one up if it ever gets released to experiment with 🙂
I saw a video awhile back where this could be used by thieves to steal PIN codes. If a person uses a debit card on a keypad in a store where they use rubber buttons, the leftover heat from the person’s fingers can be picked up, and based on how much is picked up on each button, it could even be guessed in the correct order. The best way to protect against this stealthy attack is to cover all the keys while typing in your pin, alongside actually covering the keypad.
This is interesting. A phone case with heat vision properties. Hmmm, I wonder what they will think of next!
This is the coolest thing I have seen on a phone. It looks good on the iPhone 5S. It’s got some built, and it looks solid. I sometimes feel insecure about the strength of my smartphone case, but with a heat vision I would be pretty sure about what it could do.
Its a cool case but $350 is just too much. That’s almost half the price of the phone. They put so much stuff into it to drive the price up. It doesn’t need an extra camera it can use the standard iphone camera. If they just released the case without a battery, extra camera and the other things that would bring the price down and people will consider buying it.
I think that this tech innovation is pretty neat and very interesting. The thing is, how often would people actually use this device in everyday life? I don’t think it would be used to much and if that is the case, then is it worth the money?
Cool case, and arguably the one with the most functionality. It’s a little expensive but what do you expect, it makes your iPhone into an infrared camera. The only little caveat I could think of is that if you drop your phone with this device on, you’ll be saying goodbye to both.