Disney has teamed up with Intel to hold a spectacular holiday extravaganza that will involve 300 drones. The show will run the entire holiday season at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
First U.S. Drone Show
The drone performance, dubbed as the Starbright Holidays, features Intel's Shooting Star drones. They will be painting the sky with colorful images and will also execute choreographed aerial stunts set to holiday-themed music.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with Intel on this exciting entertainment experience," Jon Snoddy, Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development Studio executive, said. "By combining our technological capabilities, we will be able to light up the sky this holiday season."
Intel's Shooting Star
Each Shooting Star drone is outfitted with LED lights that can produce more than 4 billion color combinations. Together, the drones can stage a show that is being touted as more spectacular than fireworks. Intel has released a video, teasing what the fleet of 280-gram drones can do.
The drones are controlled from one computer interface. Intel claims that the sophistication of the drone technology and their accompanying software allow the drone performance to be prepared in a matter of days instead of months. One only needs to feed the software images and it will calculate the number of drones required, along with a movement path so that the drones do not collide with each other.
Drone Applications
This particular aspect to the Starbright Holidays show underscores the advances made in today's drone technology. According to Intel, this demonstrates the power and potential of a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles controlled by one individual. An operator can maneuver a nearly limitless number of drones so that he could create a giant floating LED screen on his own or command a swarm in search and rescue operations.
The drone show began Nov. 16 and those who first saw the performance were treated to a spectacle of 3D images that can actually come to life in the sky, performing actions like twisting and turning.
Availability
Except for its weight, which is similar to a volleyball, Intel has not provided comprehensive hardware details for the Shooting Star drone. There is also no word whether the UAV will be available commercially. What is clear so far with its collaboration with Disney is that the company has a hit on its hands in the entertainment industry.
It is also important to note that Intel has been pursuing a policy of creating cool technologies to showcase its products, and drones claim a big part in it.
