iPhone App. Store has to qualify as one of the most extensive things in the world. One of the main advantage which gives Apple iPhone an edge over other phones is its dynamic App. Store. We have seen some insane ideas of applications in the App store which include a beer bottle emptying through the accelerometer or just a glow on the home screen costing $999. But recently we saw an incredible piece of attachment in the iPhone- a Wi-Fi controlled Drone.
Unmanned Drones have become synonymous with destructive bombings of remote places. They were recently made famous due to the various attacks by US on hilly Afghanistan territories. It was unveiled at CES 2010 and caused a sensation there even without a demo. It has a shape like a flying saucer and is named the A.R. Drone where A.R- Stands for augmented reality. The makers (Parrot) gave a live demonstration near their office on the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. Unsuspecting commuters watched in awe as the “Quadricopter”(As the company calls it) zipped and zoomed past them. It was demonstrated by one of the 10 engineers who spent the last four years working on this drone. It’s easy to control as the engineer pressed one button to make the Drone hover above the ground right over the canal. He maneuvered it expertly to swing it around trees and bushes and park benches by just tilting his iPhone sideways.
The Drone has four propellers which are impressively silent. It also has a camera which is capable of streaming live video to your iPhone. The camera has a 93” wide angle diagonal lens, CMOS sensor and a video frequency of 15 FPS. It has a VGA resolution of 640×480 and streams the videos through built in Wi-Fi. It also has a vertical camera in it’s cockpit which is able to measure speed. The Drone can move at a speed of 18 kilometers per hour. It can stay airborne for 15 minutes after a 60 minute recharge, can operate over a range of 50 meters and weighs over 300 grams which is equivalent to half a pound.
The company also boasts that AR Drone is by far the most superior airborne toy due to its inertial unit and ultrasound sensors. "We used very sophisticated technology to develop it — technology that is used in military and commercial drones," said Henri Seydoux who is the founder of Parrot.
Apparently, the creators don’t have in mind a very serious use for their Quadricopter. The company says that it has been developed simply for Video Gaming. They rubbished the using of the Drone for any kind of spying , traffic control or aerial photography. An engineer, in the company’s demonstration room , lifted the copter into the air and the copter located the hidden targets he had set around in the room. On the iPhone screen, these were transformed into virtual robots at which he could then fire virtual missiles. By placing a beacon on a drone, two or more players can indulge in aerial combat anywhere they can access an iPhone. "This drone will let kids play games not only on their computers but in the garden, the country, or on the beach," said Henri Seydoux. This is a great news for gamers and enthusiasts alike. The company says that it has been designed so that even smaller kids would be comfortable controlling it.
Though this device promised to be a big thing in gaming, its sad to see such a great piece of technology only being touted as a gaming device. It can have a variety of applications including air monitoring of traffic or aerial spying, but the company refuses to develop it for any other use except gaming.
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