Add a new element to the performance
Drones have also been used to amplify the concert experience for major artists, such as huge pop and R&B artist Drake, or famous metal band Metallica. In order to add some extra zing to their live performances, these artists have used drones from the indoor drone show companies that were created to bring technology and the arts together by using tech to design influential light shows that add a new element for musicians and other performers to use as part of their performance. Drone light shows help to transport audiences to another world as part of a collective art and music experience.
How will drone-based entertainment evolve in the future?
Companies from China and Europe seem like some solutions.
1. “Drone-as-a-service”
A China-based company claims to have developed a drone swarm for indoor and outdoor shows that can be rented for a subscription fee.
2. “Ensure positioning”
Its portable, stack-able, LED-sporting quad-copters have a flight time of up to 25 minutes and integrated GPS and redundant systems that “ensure positioning” and “overcome interference.”
3. Licensing fee business model
A company from Europe offers a drone dance controller that enables customers who pay the $12,000-and-up licensing fee to upload 3D animations and distribute files to multiple show drones. Perhaps drone-based entertainment will one day spread to startup staffers, event organizers, and even hobbyists.
4. FAA
In the U.S., clearer guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will likely be required along the way, but the democratization of light-up choreographed drones seems closer than ever before.
5. Drone-based new advertising media
Drone Technology continues to disrupt both the tech and media industries, including film-making, event planing, sports, reporting, advertising and entertainment.
TIME magazine’s latest issue is a special report on the rapid explosion of drones in our culture.
For the cover photo, TIME recreated its iconic logo and red border using 958 illuminated drones hovering in the sky. It’s the first-ever TIME cover captured with a camera drone. Drone tech will continue to develop, improving photographic capabilities; mobility and stability.