Google's creepy camera monitors, identifies and records you and your loved ones

It uses machine-learning to figure out which moments are worth capturing

Google’s new Pixel phones dominated its launch event this week, but it was a completely different product that raised the most eyebrows.

Google Clips is a miniature camera that’s constantly on the lookout for interesting things to film.

Using machine-learning, it can also recognise the people – and pets – that are important to you.

It’s an impressive little device, but one that also has the potential to feel very creepy.

Google says it’s fully aware of people’s privacy concerns and took care to ensure that, first and foremost, Clips clearly looks like a camera.

Its flashing white LED indicator also makes it obvious when it’s recording, and it doesn’t have a microphone, so it can’t capture sound.

Google appears to be trying to push Clips as a family-focused gadget, designed to automatically capture meaningful moments you might otherwise miss.

"You help the camera learn who is important to you," the company says. "As you capture with Clips, the camera learns to recognize the faces of people that matter to you and helps you capture more moments of them. Over time, we’ll add to Clips’ smarts to help you capture better content."

However, it’s impossible to ignore that it will be watching and analysing you whenever it’s on, and you have no control over what it decides to record and what it chooses to ignore.

It uses a 12-megapixel camera sensor with a 130-degree field of view to cpature seven-second recordings, and you can transfer the footage it captures wirelessly to your phone.

However, it’s currently only compatible with Google's Pixel phones, Apple's iPhones, and Samsung's Galaxy S7 and S8.

You can also capture content manually, by pressing the shutter button, but as there's no screen you might be disappointed with the results.

Google has only said that Clips will be coming “soon”, and it will cost $249 when it does eventually hit the market.