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2k drones light up night sky in Shanghai to welcome new year

27 points by tartoran 7y ago

lvturner 7y ago
I -used- to love fireworks, but over the years it dawned on me the huge negative impacts that they have have (pollution, terrifying wildlife and pets, etc) and I'm now unable to see them as much other than an extravagant, arrogant, complete waste. While I'm aware that there are a lot of eco-costs involved in building drones, it's nice to see alternatives to fireworks - that are at the very least are reusable.
- tartoran 7y ago
  I was thinking the same thing as well. It’s very interesting that fireworks originated in china and in a way it’s now full circle
robomartin 7y ago
I thought about doing this about ten years ago when our town decided to discontinue fireworks shows due to fire risk. At the time it would have been too expensive to attempt. It’s really neat to finally see this happen.
todotask 7y ago
Singapore has 500 drones too! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpB3SEZ2Rk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpB3SEZ2Rk
- rytill 7y ago
  Does anyone know what kind of tech is used for this and the original content? All radio frequency communication? What drones are used? How do the drones learn about one another's position mid-flight? Looks like Intel has an offering from $150k to $350k+: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/technology-innovation/aerial-technology-light-show.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/technology-innovatio...
  - pg_is_a_butt 7y ago
    > Does anyone know what kind of tech is used for this Imagination and lies.
datashow 7y ago
Maybe I am the only one feeling this way? These drone shows are just silly elementary level computer visual arts with a huge size. Fireworks are visually way way better than these, and more creative, more exciting and holiday-ish.
- rytill 7y ago
  There's definitely something to it existing at scale, in the real world, but I mostly agree. I'd be interested to see what visuals can happen if the drones had additional props, like fog and directable light beams.
orev 7y ago
There are many reports coming out that this was faked. People who were there posting videos of waiting for the show, and then nothing happening. I believe it as some of the animations look a bit too fast or precise to be done by real drones.
- DarthGhandi 7y ago
  > many reports The only thing I can find is a Reddit post saying it's fake. Got something substantial instead? Given the Chinese previously broke the record 2 years ago with 1300 and Intel broke it again just recently with over 2000 why exactly do you think it's fake? https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/commercial/2018/5/video-dazzling-display-over-chinese-city-as-more-than-1-300-drones-take-to-the-s-524413 https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/commercial/2018/5/...
  - lakisy 7y ago
    They admitted it that it was fake. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50979557 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50979557
- tartoran 7y ago
  It doesn’t seem too impressive to be fake to be honest. I mean it is impressive with respect to the size but with enough care it is definitely doable.
n_t 7y ago
I wonder if sound from these 2k drones was deafening.
- tartoran 7y ago
  Curious too. If they’re nearby maybe so but high up in the air they may not be too loud.

27 points by tartoran 7y ago

I -used- to love fireworks, but over the years it dawned on me the huge negative impacts that they have have (pollution, terrifying wildlife and pets, etc) and I'm now unable to see them as much other than an extravagant, arrogant, complete waste. While I'm aware that there are a lot of eco-costs involved in building drones, it's nice to see alternatives to fireworks - that are at the very least are reusable.

tartoran 7y ago
I was thinking the same thing as well. It’s very interesting that fireworks originated in china and in a way it’s now full circle

robomartin 7y ago

I thought about doing this about ten years ago when our town decided to discontinue fireworks shows due to fire risk. At the time it would have been too expensive to attempt. It’s really neat to finally see this happen.

todotask 7y ago

Singapore has 500 drones too! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpB3SEZ2Rk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpB3SEZ2Rk

rytill 7y ago
Does anyone know what kind of tech is used for this and the original content? All radio frequency communication? What drones are used? How do the drones learn about one another's position mid-flight? Looks like Intel has an offering from $150k to $350k+: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/technology-innovation/aerial-technology-light-show.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/technology-innovatio...
- pg_is_a_butt 7y ago
  > Does anyone know what kind of tech is used for this Imagination and lies.

datashow 7y ago

Maybe I am the only one feeling this way? These drone shows are just silly elementary level computer visual arts with a huge size. Fireworks are visually way way better than these, and more creative, more exciting and holiday-ish.

rytill 7y ago
There's definitely something to it existing at scale, in the real world, but I mostly agree. I'd be interested to see what visuals can happen if the drones had additional props, like fog and directable light beams.

orev 7y ago

There are many reports coming out that this was faked. People who were there posting videos of waiting for the show, and then nothing happening. I believe it as some of the animations look a bit too fast or precise to be done by real drones.

DarthGhandi 7y ago
> many reports The only thing I can find is a Reddit post saying it's fake. Got something substantial instead? Given the Chinese previously broke the record 2 years ago with 1300 and Intel broke it again just recently with over 2000 why exactly do you think it's fake? https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/commercial/2018/5/video-dazzling-display-over-chinese-city-as-more-than-1-300-drones-take-to-the-s-524413 https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/commercial/2018/5/...
- lakisy 7y ago
  They admitted it that it was fake. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50979557 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50979557
tartoran 7y ago
It doesn’t seem too impressive to be fake to be honest. I mean it is impressive with respect to the size but with enough care it is definitely doable.

n_t 7y ago

I wonder if sound from these 2k drones was deafening.

tartoran 7y ago
Curious too. If they’re nearby maybe so but high up in the air they may not be too loud.