Back in February, Canon turned to the Japanese crowd to fund development and production of an AI-powered photo/video camera that automatically captures scenes unfolding in front of it. Now the company has launched the device in Europe as the PowerShot PX.

Rather than getting everyone at a family gathering to force happiness and joy for group selfies, the idea behind the PX (pronounced pixie) is for a kind of memorable moment sentry to survey scenes as they unfold and then snap a photo or record a video clip at key moments.

The 19-57-mm lens up top can pan 340 degrees and tilt 110 degrees and has 3x optical and 4x digital zoom, and uses subject tracking and facial recognition smarts to automatically seek out subjects, keep them focused and in the frame and capture the action as it happens. And if you want the PX to capture a specific moment, or it's not pointing where you want it to, voice command is cooked in to help you attract its attention.

The combination of a 1/2.3 CMOS sensor and Digic 7 processing engine produces 11.7-MP stills and Full HD videos at up to 60 frames per second. The built-in Li-ion battery is good for up to five hours per charge, depending on shooting frequency, and captured content can be stored to microSD media or sent wirelessly to the Connect iOS/Android app for Mini PTZ Cam for review and forwarding to social media. Canon says that the app will automatically consign photo and video failures to the bin – "sorting through the great and not-so-great, so you don't have to."

And if you want to run the device as a wireless webcam on a Windows 10 computer, that's possible too.

In many respects, it's a similar proposition to Google's Clips camera from 2017 – but more capable and more pricey. The PowerShot PX is available to buy now for €479.99 (about US$550), though shipping is not due to start until later in the month.