Without this being a ‘spoiler alert’, in the latest Dan Brown film, Inferno, there’s a scene where 2 people are running through the Boboli Gardens in Florence whilst followed by a drone. It was a profound image contrasting the history of the Boboli Gardens with the space-age drone – something that until recently was more associated with the Jetsons and their futuristic Utopia.
However, the future is here now and so are the drones. They have gone from being something we see on film to being something that is used to assist industry, something for fun and even something that helps you catch fish!
Earlier this year drones were used to monitor construction of the new EUR115m Bausch & Lomb expansion. Attached with HD cameras, the drones took over 100 flights enabling both the construction company and B&L to monitor progress. The construction company could see progress and any problems whilst company management could see the progress of the project and their investment.
In agriculture, drones have proved useful in a variety of ways. They can provide aerial images that farmers use to collect meaningful data from which they analyse plant details and conditions. They see attacks on plants enabling them to react quickly and can even use the drone to herd sheep (but would you really want to lose your sheepdog?)
There’s been a lot in the news recently about Amazon using drones for delivery and they’re presently working with the UK Government to test how these devices can safely fly around Britain’s sky’s. But drones can deliver other things than goods from Amazon. Imagine standing in your garden waiting for a drone to deliver your pizza? Sounds crazy, but this is now a reality in New Zealand where Dominos are delivering pizza by drone!
Yet this technology is not just about work, it’s also about play. Last month Sky launched drone racing on their Sky Sports Mix channel and there are plans to organise the first professional drone race in the UK. Reports described drone racing as the ‘sport of the future’ and yet it’s here now. This technology seems to be caught in the middle of the present and future blending science fiction and reality.
So is it here to stay? It seems so as it expands to cover various areas of our lives. Do we need and want it? Well as it becomes more versatile we’ll find more uses and before we know it a drone will become part of our lives. We may not realise it but maybe we’re ready to be a Jetson.