Introduction

From the 2021 Olympic opening show to the bowling alley drone footage that impressed Hollywood, 2021 will make you give drones the respect they deserve.

Drones are a huge part of this new era that we have entered. In my last article, 12 Reasons You Must Educate Yourself About Drones (2021), I explain, in detail, why drones are and are becoming more important in our daily lives. The things that they can accomplish and the things that they can show, are phenomenal. Here, I showcase four awe-inspiring examples.

Respect for Flying Creative Art

Here’s an interesting fact, did you know that the 2018 Winter Olympic drone show set the Genius World record for the most drones flown at the same time at 1200 plus drones? The number in 2021 was over 1800.

Like the Olympic Winter games, drones demonstrated a super impressive opening at the 2021 games, as shown above. Twenty years ago—even ten years ago, we could not even fathom what we are witnessing from these flying pieces of technology today.

Respect for Video

The drone raced from the tree line outside the bowling alley, through the front door, under tables and through the back room where the pins are kept, and repairs are made. One minute, plus, of electrifying movement, dazzled in a place where family fun is usually the primary focus. Watch it below.

Quotes:

Some of the quotes for this fpv (first person view) drone project were:

“This is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” – Lee Unkrich, director.

“Holy S**t”. – Elijah Wood, actor, Lord of the Rings.

“Stupendous” – James Gunn, director, Guardian of the Galaxy.

“This kind of wonderful photographic innovation adds to the language and vocabulary of cinema, just beautiful”. – Todd Vaziri, digital artist, Transformers.

So now that I have shown you two of drones’ greatest accomplishments of the year, do you think that 2021 is giving drones the respect they deserve?

If not, let’s move on to a couple more examples of footage that will resonate with you nature fans.

Respect for Nature

If sports don’t interest you, maybe this footage of nature will. Feast your eyes on footage that captures robust waterfalls, and coasts over wide rivers laying between mountains while remaining steady and stealth-like.

If you grew up in the country, as I did, some of this footage may seem quite normal. If you had a more urban upbringing and only got to the countryside to visit a grandparent, aunt, uncle or other family member, then you may only see these wonders of nature on vacation or video.

Sacrifice for Education

Volcanoes. Who can get close enough to return ample data to create a 3-D image that will ensure that scientists understand them better than ever before? Not one human; but a drone can. Even if the actual drone is lost in the volcano’s inescapable heat, the footage that they drone pilots get, is recorded in real time.

“We were able to take a series of thousands of photographs around the top of the [Marum] crater [in Vanuatu] and then process those using a specialized software to render the first of its kind 3-D model of the volcano from inside.” -Sam Cossman, National Geographic.

Scientists noted that they are able to go back and measure things that could be “done in the moment”. An example of that would be the microbial life that lives the on the sides of the rocks after the volcanic ash has cooled. Drone footage gives them the ability to go back and study everything about microbial life there. They also insist that using this video to pair with other research that is going on in the world surrounding this topic, is how an unbelievable amount of progress will be made in science. Their goal of “Merging worlds of exploration and tech” is precisely how (in my opinion) America became an economic and technological powerhouse. Throughout history, this formula is used over and over again to create, build, license, and sell, etc. We are doing precisely what we have always done before, only now, we are using the newest, innovative vehicle.

Conclusion

Never before have we had these viewpoints. Whether it is an athletic event, a causal afternoon of a popular family sport or insight about nature, we simply have not been getting these frames. This is enough to give drones the respect they deserve in 2021 and beyond.

Which area piques your interest most? Moreover, will you start researching drones for yourself? Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!