LAS VEGAS: On a dusty stretch of Nevada desert, a quadcopter drone kicks up a small cloud as it takes off. It then trails its operator on a drive across the flat terrain, filming the motion from a short distance above.

The AirDog drone was designed to capture the intensity of extreme sports that have been difficult to access — surfing, skiing, off-road biking and similar activities.

“We felt we could change the way video is captured in action sports,” said Agris Kipurs, co-founder or AirDog, created by a group of Latvian engineers and now based in California, which is starting beta-testing on its products later this year.

AirDog, one of dozens of drones being shown at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, is aiming for “an unassisted experience, so all you need is the tracking device on your wrist,” Kipurs said during a demonstration in the desert outside Las Vegas.

Drones are showing up in a variety of shapes and sizes at the huge electronics fair, which has for the first time a space dedicated to “unmanned systems”.

More than a dozen companies are displaying the flying devices, for uses ranging from remote-controlled toys to professional filmmaking to industrial and agricultural applications.

The Hexo+ drone from Franco-American Squadrone System is another drone on display that can be pre-programmed to follow and film a person or object from any conceivable angle using a smartphone.

In a similar category, the show got a look at the Nixie drone, a flying camera which launches from one’s wrist and won a competition last year sponsored by Intel for wearable technology.

“We think drones have a possibility to change out lives in positive ways, “said Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich at a CES keynote speech where he demonstrated Intel-powered drones from Ascending Technologies that navigated obstacles on stage.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2015

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