It's been a banner week for unusual new entries in the consumer photo marketplace. (See Nikon's camera-or-is-it-a-projector here.) Now Sony has introduced the Party-shot, a camera dock that pans 360 degrees and tilts 24 degrees to follow the action; detects faces automatically; changes composition to abide by the rule of thirds; and takes the photos for you. Could robots that clean our house and fetch our slippers be far off?

The Sony press release states that the Party-shot camera accessory, combined with Sony's DSC-WX1 and DSC-TX1 Cyber-shot cameras, uses face and smile detection to know when to take photos, freeing you from the tedious act of snapping the shutter button. The device is billed as being an excellent way to snap more candid candids; am I cynical for wondering whether it's more likely to be used for spying and even more unsavory occasions?

You can mount the Party-shot camera accessory, which runs on two AA batteries for up to 11 hours, on most tripods.

The Party-shot camera accessory will cost about $150 and will ship in September 2009.