Drones have been involved in a lot of aerial shows recently. The Winter Olympics, the Guinness Record and even acting as support dancers for the pop-star Drake. The year of 2018 was filled with drone shows. Additionally, a highlight came towards the year’s end when a display of dancing drones illuminated the Dubai Mall. From the mid of November, till 28th of the month, the drones performed at the mall. Verity Studios, a pioneer of indoor drone technology, organized the event with 44 autonomous Lucie® micro drones.
Dubai Mall lit up with drones
The performance was a mesmerizing one. The 44 drones flew together to form clusters of light, flying strobes and even fireworks in the Star Atrium. The drones were beautifully choreographed. Also, their performance was accompanied by a video, laser, and film. The show was organized to commemorate Dubai Mall’s 10 Year Celebrations.
Raffaello D’Andrea, founder and CEO of Verity Studios, stated “The Dubai Mall show is a beautiful display of moving art – and we have created a performance worthy of the 10th anniversary. It’s been fantastic to work alongside Lune Rouge Entertainment, the new company created by Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil, and help the team there deliver their first-ever show in the Middle East.”
“Verity Studios is constantly looking to push the boundaries of drone technology as a creative medium and Talisman is a compelling example of what can be achieved by incorporating drone technology with other, more traditional effects. We’ll continue to pioneer industry-changing developments for the live events market,” he added.
The Lucie Micro Drones
The show utilized the unique drones of Verity called as Lucie micro drones. These are extremely lightweight drones, weighing only 50 g (0.11 lbs). Additionally, they are fitted with high intensity, pre-programmable RGBW lights. Owing to their lightweight capabilities, they can be safely flown above the heads of artists and audiences in virtually any indoor environment.
The Lucie micro drones fly their pre-programmed choreographies autonomously, meaning a single operator can launch any number of drones. Moreover, Verity’s patented indoor positioning system allows the micro-drones to locate themselves in space and perform their choreographies. As part of this system, Kedge™ localization units accurately define the boundaries of the flight space and act as satellites. This forms an indoor GPS system.
Such a system can be easily integrated with stage architecture and offers its clients the ultimate flexibility. This also means that clients can now operate sophisticated shows by themselves.
Watch the Lucie drones in action:
