Intel set a Guinness World Record in November 2015 for the "Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles airborne simultaneously" where it released 100 drones in the sky during a musical performance in Tornesch, Germany.
Now, the company is at it again, with five times the number of drones. While the company is mostly known for providing horsepower behind our everyday devices such as computers, laptops and mobile phones, Intel is drilling one of its foot in the drone department.
Intel is calling its 500 drones a "single fleet of drones" instead of individual drones flying in the sky, since it has developed a whole new system for these drones to whirl about and rearrange to form into different shapes or even the company's own logo as it hovers aloft.
"The drone itself is a completely new drone. This is the Intel Shooting Star. It's made to be lightweight. It has a propeller cage so that we can ensure that everything is done safely and securely," said Natalie Cheung, the business lead for Intel's light show.
Intel's Shooting Star was created by the company specifically to showcase light shows, so it might not be surprising if Intel goes ahead and rears its whole fleet into stadiums, concerts, entertainment shows and any other form of public spectacle. According to Intel, the Shooting Star features an almost limitless array of color combinations.
Intel has already discussed its plans to fly fleet of drones with the Federal Aviation Administration, which has granted them permission to fly the drones in the United States as long as there's a nightly pilot manning each activity.
"This means we can now create beautifully choreographed images in the nighttime sky quickly and easily in the [United States]," said Anil Nanduri, Intel's New Technology Group VP and general manager for the company's unmanned aerial vehicle segment.
The video showcases 500 Shooting Stars littering atop the sky as they emit flickering patterns of light not unlike the vibrant glitz and luster of fireworks during New Year's Eve. In dark environments, the fleet looks even more glorious, as if floating luminous fireflies substituting as a canvas of ultra-resplendent stars.
Later on, the fleet of Shooting Stars spell out "500," signifying the number of drones flying in the sky at that moment. From "500," it shape-shifts into Intel's logo, like moving particles assuming a shape in an extremely neat and clean choreography.
"This is something that we never could have done last year," Cheung said. "It's been an amazing experience just to see the technology develop so quickly," she added.
Intel believes that drones are an important computer platform, and it's currently looking in to invest in technologies and companies that best serve new innovations in the growing drone ecosystem.
Earlier this week, the company acquired MAVinci GmbH, a German drone company that offers flight planning software.
