New Film Shows How Drones Could Patrol US Skies

By: | January 2nd, 2014

When we hear the word “drone,” most of us probably think about a small unmanned military airplane flying over a battlefield for surveillance and drop missiles. But now, thousands of drones could be patrolling U.S. skies by the end of this decade and we’re not talking about drones delivering packages. We mean drones could help fight crime.

A cool short film named “Our Drone Future” shows us what it could be like for a city such as San Francisco to be patrolled by drones. Alex Cornell’s film explores the technology, capability and the purpose of the drones as their presence becomes inevitable in the skies of tomorrow.

Created using a DJI Phantom Drone, tons of special effects, GoPro camera and a liberal interpretation of FAA regulations, “Our Drone Future” shows drones flying around San Francisco. The drones operate on their own but can interact with human officers who would be able to remotely monitor their movements.

But there are few reservations as well; some people feel that security drones will be too invasive and become just another form of Big Brother watching us. The government is worried that they could collide with passenger planes or other flying objects and come crashing to the ground.

As of now, no one can be sure of how drones will play out in the near future, since the use of drones in U.S. airspace is currently tightly regulated. But Cornell’s vision has started an interesting conversation about drone use and privacy.

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

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