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Intel Has Drones That Will Make Fireworks Obsolete

This article is more than 6 years old.

Intel

Intel recently helped celebrate the launch of Wonder Woman on Blu-ray with a spectacular drone light show over LA, perhaps finally sealing the fate of the much-loved firework forever.

Somewhat predictably the area of night sky illumination is the next under threat from automation and drones. Don't worry though, these drone light displays are far more impressive than exploding chemicals. Produced by Intel's Shooting Star drone, the light show can contain billions of colors and be perfectly synchronized with music and to create incredible patterns.

This particular light show used 300 of Intel's Shooting Star drones to create the Wonder Woman insignia in the sky along with other imagery from the popular movie. As you'd hope, women played a big part in the drone show, managed by Natalie Cheung - who's Intel's GM for Intel's Drone Group - an all-female crew managed the show.

The drones used are small, light and are designed to create no problems if one fails mid-flight. The rotors are all protected and the bodies are made out of plastic and foam. They also don't have any cameras, in case you were worried about 300 drones spying on you. Intel also says that the system is designed to be easy to use, planned and rehearsed on a PC beforehand so those who need to will know what to expect.

Intel

In the past, Intel has also created drone shows for Disney, something that might save the company some real money if it starts using drones instead of fireworks. Disney is one of the largest consumers of fireworks and is rumored to spend some $50m per year on them. A drone fleet could be much cheaper and much less wasteful.

And I'm not going to tell you that we need to stop fireworks for environmental reasons, but let's be honest - it has an impact. According to Quora, here on Forbes, the impact of fireworks is a measurable amount, even if that amount is 0.01% of global usage. Everything we burn releases carbon dioxide and fireworks are no exception, so a move to using light drones might actually reduce pollution and save natural resources going up in smoke.

And if we're talking sheer practicalities here, fireworks are often loud - part of the fun, of course - but not everyone likes that. Children, pets and people with conditions like Autism might find the displays unpleasant, or even traumatic. Drones are quieter and almost certainly produce more controlled light.

So enjoy your next firework show, one day it will be replaced by drones.

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