I’m sure you’ve seen a drone show. They are taking over, all over the world. Drone shows are getting bigger. Companies are increasing the number of drones. The ability to make more complex designs is a must to stay relevant. The combination of lights and lasers with the drones is making for some really hypnotizing displays.

China

A company called EFY-Tech in China has flown over 100k flights already this year. One show had 3,000 drones. The 15 minute show has received a staggering 300M views online, 100,000 viewed the display in person. The drones have the ability to showcase 16 million different color combinations.

The demand for the hardware and drone show software is through the roof. Companies that are able to provide products are reaping the benefits.

Philadelphia Eagles Show

Verge Aero is a New Jersey company that was tasked with putting on a drone show for the Eagles. 300 drones put on a show above the Philadelphia Art Museum. Sophisticated software is able to control the drones using only a laptop computer.

The company has performed shows with as many as 1,000 drones and theoretically could easily scale that number to 5,000. The goal is to make drone shows as commonplace as fireworks displays.

Florida

Lunalite is a South Florida company that is hoping to take up to 2,000 drones into the skies to make mesmerizing displays. The company is growing and hopes to be expanding towards South America, with a goal of taking their company worldwide.

The future is bright for starting a drone light show business. Often the competition is limited, Lunalite is the only South Florida company registered to perform drone shows.

Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris put a rather large budget in the production billed, “Avengers: Power the Night.” The design was a 6 month design collaboration to make sure that everything is just right. The magnitude of the show is impressive, 70 musicians were hired to conduct the score for the show. With all of the big money being thrown around at light show providers, progress in the industry is all but guaranteed.

India

DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations is an Indian company that has a mission to revolutionize drone shows. The company was recently awarded a best drone show award out of 51 finalists. The importance of winning one of these coveted awards cannot be understated.

The companies that receive this recognition will benefit greatly from the increased notoriety.

India recently put on a show with 3,500 drones. The display morphed from a depiction of the universe into a globe within a matter of seconds. The scenes depict stories about the past. The drones are able to make 3D maps of towns and buildings. One scene created an aircraft carrier, complete with a jet actually taking off.

Displays included illustrations of animals that were moving around within the air. Finally the drones were able to create the illusion of fireworks. The show is enjoyable to watch, follow this link for the YouTube video.

Further evidence really isn’t needed to make the case that drone shows are going to become an important part of the economy. The technology continues to increase enabling show companies the ability to expand the complexity of the shows. Companies are racing to be the best, as the fierce competition for these best in show awards indicates.

Concerts

Companies are looking for the prestige that comes along from doing the biggest shows. It would be interesting to see a rock band, like Guns and Roses use drone shows. In my mind the lights could be arranged to be a bass guitar, guitar or drum kit. Lights could spell out AC/DC. Drone shows are often accompanied by music, so it would see cool to see Metallica embrace something like this.

Conclusion

Drone shows have universal appeal. It isn’t necessary to understand the language to understand the shows. The shows are often used to promote pride within the country. Drone shows often display flags or important cultural elements.

As the shows continue to progress, the shows will only resonate more with the audience. The boundaries will continue to be expanded. We are just at the beginning of drone shows, but we are headed to new heights.

The technology at this point seems rudimentary, albeit still interesting. Fireworks create about 20,000 fires a year on average. Theme parks often have to water their grounds when doing fireworks shows. Drone shows seem like a wise replacement. Drone show companies are hungry to show the world what they are working on, why not let them put on a display to remember.