The Mainstream Future of Droning

While there are many technologies which have their 15 minutes in the spotlight only to vanish back into relative obscurity, the usefulness and entertainment value of drones has established them as more than just a fad. While this might seem a bit biased coming from a website such as ours, there can be no denying the world which drone technology opens to us, and the influence that improved tech and reach looks likely to appropriate in the future. In this article, we’ll go over a couple of the big boys which we see the first steps of today, and try to figure out what place these might hold in the world of tomorrow.

Flying Into the Spotlight

A few decades ago we still had the idea of a drone, but the thought of domestically affordable devices and even toys was not something on which most of us would have bet. Since then, drones have become not only a popular hobby, technical interest, and toy, they have expanded in some new and interesting ways within the rest of our culture. We can see this in sports camera technology, where drones are able to give better angles and more dynamic shots than traditional cameras. In this way, they manage to replace or supersede the previous reliance on expensive and inhibitive helicopter cameras.

This popularity extends to being the subject of media as well, with video games like Drone Simulator from RealFlight helping scratch the itch of those of us who enjoy the technical side of balancing and engineering. While this has a while to go before it matches the popularity of Farm Simulator, it has already seen a strong start. Even online casinos and slot games are getting in on the action, with Drone Wars from Microgaming paving the path into greater mainstream integration and recognition. These slot games even play with start up cost of drones as well, pointing fun at their initial cost by offering something for nothing in the form of signup bonuses.

Just how far, then, can we see these going in the future?

The New Delivery Man

This is the sort of tech we’ve already seen enter the first stage of mainstream production. Lifting smaller and lighter goods is one of the amazing capabilities of drones, and helps fill a niche which could easily put a huge dent in traditional means of couriering or package delivery. From pizza to books and online purchases, drones offer not only a speed which matches or exceeds that of traditional delivery, they do so in a way which helps alleviate traffic density as well as aid convenience.

“Drone Delivery” (CC BY 2.0) by www.routexl.com

While the first of these mainstream attempts run the gambit from amazing to somewhat less so, this is technology we can only see improving as infrastructure and drones themselves continue to advance. It does, however, mean we are probably going to have to retrain our dogs.

Head to Head Competition

Drone racing, like drone delivery, is already a thing. It is also something which many people might underestimate the excitement and skill involved before they witness it for themselves. Actual drone racing, especially that which involves the use of camera footage streamed to VR gear, is an area where human ability can really strike you off guard.

These drones can manage the types of manoeuvres which would be impossible in passenger craft, so the agility of the craft and the dexterity of the racers can really shine through. This has gotten so big that it already attracts huge sponsorship deals, so we can’t wait to see what greater rates of adoption and participation will mean to this growing sport.

Droning On

We can’t exactly predict where the future will take drones, as advanced as the technology is, it still remains in its technical infancy. Whether through larger communities, more advanced tech, or some combination of the two, we see drones moving from popular to dominant in some areas of our society. What do you think? What have we missed, and what developments would you expect drones to undergo in the future?