“I think we need to buy a drone.”
I found myself saying these words to my business partner, not realizing how casually they came to mind. Sure, let’s buy a drone! It’s what all the kids are doing these days, right? The fact that I could make that statement to someone with a straight face completely cements the fact that we are already living in the future, we just can’t see it it’s so close to our eyes.
Make no mistake, drones are here to stay, and they will play a factor in our day to day lives as they become increasingly robotic and autonomous. Right now they’re useful as toys and for videography, but their usefulness is rapidly expanding. Those who want to stay ahead of the curve would do wise to learn as much as they can regarding drones, whether to use them in business, to stay out of their eyes (best of luck), or to write them into a story.
The most obvious and frequent use of drones is to haul a camera up in the air. The military was doing it first, private tech junkies got into it, the police saw the benefit of it, and now companies are using them. This is still the most basic use of a drone (aerial photo and video) and probably the most widespread and practical. For less than $200, Amazon will ship me a drone that already has a camera so that I can use it in all sorts of debauchery. For those of you who are curious, for me that’s mostly filming cars going very fast around a race track for the benefit of my business partner and I (we make next generation hand tools). That my first thought was to acquire a drone shows just how ubiquitous the technology has become.
I found myself saying these words to my business partner, not realizing how casually they came to mind. Sure, let’s buy a drone! It’s what all the kids are doing these days, right? The fact that I could make that statement to someone with a straight face completely cements the fact that we are already living in the future, we just can’t see it it’s so close to our eyes.
Make no mistake, drones are here to stay, and they will play a factor in our day to day lives as they become increasingly robotic and autonomous. Right now they’re useful as toys and for videography, but their usefulness is rapidly expanding. Those who want to stay ahead of the curve would do wise to learn as much as they can regarding drones, whether to use them in business, to stay out of their eyes (best of luck), or to write them into a story.
The most obvious and frequent use of drones is to haul a camera up in the air. The military was doing it first, private tech junkies got into it, the police saw the benefit of it, and now companies are using them. This is still the most basic use of a drone (aerial photo and video) and probably the most widespread and practical. For less than $200, Amazon will ship me a drone that already has a camera so that I can use it in all sorts of debauchery. For those of you who are curious, for me that’s mostly filming cars going very fast around a race track for the benefit of my business partner and I (we make next generation hand tools). That my first thought was to acquire a drone shows just how ubiquitous the technology has become.
OLGY quadcopter.
As I thought more about it, I realized that except when noise is an issue, a drone can actually take the place of a dolly or boom (or selfie stick), allowing tracking shots, pans, establishing shots, and many more. Why buy multiple pieces of equipment to haul around when you can just sling your droid in the back seat of the car, buckle him in, and then go filming?
Now, while photography and videography are the main use of drones thus far (along with simply hobby flying), I’d be curious to see just how far out this tech will stretch. Humans have a habit of strapping weapons onto things, and the military did just that when they converted the Predator into a Hellfire missile carrier. It seems each year a newer, larger, more heavily armed drone is released. To my eye, the Air Force of the future will likely have one human pilot in a fighter aircraft with several drone wingmen. This would allow for kill/no kill decisions and still leave a human to monitor things, but the drones would be risking their electronic necks when it came to engaging the enemy.
On the ground, Russia has developed a new main battle tank for deployment named Armata, which takes a crew of only two, the rest of the tank operating via computer systems. The Russians also advise that it would not be difficult to convert the tank to operate entirely autonomously. Given the recent demonstration of Russian scruples in Crimea, it would not be surprising if the Bear was the first to place on the battlefield an entirely autonomous weapon system. Putin would certainly gain a boost in the (manipulated) polls if he could promise that no soldiers’ lives need be put in danger to annex another chunk of strategically valuable land.
Now, while photography and videography are the main use of drones thus far (along with simply hobby flying), I’d be curious to see just how far out this tech will stretch. Humans have a habit of strapping weapons onto things, and the military did just that when they converted the Predator into a Hellfire missile carrier. It seems each year a newer, larger, more heavily armed drone is released. To my eye, the Air Force of the future will likely have one human pilot in a fighter aircraft with several drone wingmen. This would allow for kill/no kill decisions and still leave a human to monitor things, but the drones would be risking their electronic necks when it came to engaging the enemy.
On the ground, Russia has developed a new main battle tank for deployment named Armata, which takes a crew of only two, the rest of the tank operating via computer systems. The Russians also advise that it would not be difficult to convert the tank to operate entirely autonomously. Given the recent demonstration of Russian scruples in Crimea, it would not be surprising if the Bear was the first to place on the battlefield an entirely autonomous weapon system. Putin would certainly gain a boost in the (manipulated) polls if he could promise that no soldiers’ lives need be put in danger to annex another chunk of strategically valuable land.
Russian Armata T-14 via Vitaly V. Kuzmin - http://www.vitalykuzmin.net/?q=node/603
Something more concerning for Americans, however, is the tendency in recent times for military hardware to filter down to police organizations. Some of us have experience with the ghetto bird, but what will we do in terms of privacy when there’s a ghetto flock flying over a city twenty four hours a day? Would we allow for armed drones to be deployed in certain situations, such as riots or hostage standoffs? A drone with an AR-15 attached to it could quite easily sneak up on an unsuspecting hostage taker and put a 55 grain hollow-point into the base of his skull—no muss, no fuss. Is that something we would want? Is that something we would accept?
Though I don’t focus too much on them for fear of distracting from the plot, there are several scenes with armed drones in my novel, including a team of them armed with shotguns chasing suspected gang members through the slums of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Though it’s a scene in passing, it succinctly drives home how quickly this technology could become abused. With police shootings in high profile right now, taking an officer out of the equation and blaming a machine could become quite convenient.
But there’s more to America than rampant abuse of power and the military-industrial complex. We’ve got consumerism, dammit! “Shut up and take my money!” is a slogan of pride for us, and we don’t want you to send it to use UPS, we want you to fly our new DVD to us with a drone. I am speaking about, of course, the drive Amazon has been making to add drone delivery to their list of available services. Picture it: you run out of lube at a crucial moment so you jump online, order a new bottle, and in half an hour a fresh batch lands just outside your door for you to scoop up before the neighbors can see.
Though I don’t focus too much on them for fear of distracting from the plot, there are several scenes with armed drones in my novel, including a team of them armed with shotguns chasing suspected gang members through the slums of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Though it’s a scene in passing, it succinctly drives home how quickly this technology could become abused. With police shootings in high profile right now, taking an officer out of the equation and blaming a machine could become quite convenient.
But there’s more to America than rampant abuse of power and the military-industrial complex. We’ve got consumerism, dammit! “Shut up and take my money!” is a slogan of pride for us, and we don’t want you to send it to use UPS, we want you to fly our new DVD to us with a drone. I am speaking about, of course, the drive Amazon has been making to add drone delivery to their list of available services. Picture it: you run out of lube at a crucial moment so you jump online, order a new bottle, and in half an hour a fresh batch lands just outside your door for you to scoop up before the neighbors can see.
Amazon PrimeAir photo via Amazon.com.
But my, the airspace could become clogged quickly. If Amazon is able to jump through all the legal hurdles necessary to allow for drone delivery, how would the system evolve and what could be the resulting impacts? It stands to reason that larger drones could come into play (think shopping cart sized, so a week’s worth of groceries could land on your driveway). With enough drones on standby, deliveries could become nearly instantaneous. You could order a drone and have a drone deliver it to you (Droneception). If managed well, there could be a significant ecological benefit to electrically powered drones taking direct path flights to delivery sites, rather than trucks shipping goods to warehouses so said goods can be put on other trucks that proceed to spend the entire day driving from stop to stop. Granted, the truck routes are extremely efficient and well planned (UPS doesn’t like the price of gas either), but they’re still limited to the existing roadways, including traffic and construction. A drone, by contrast, could fly multiple deliveries in a zig-zag, moving from point to point at low altitude to drop off packages.
While all of this is speculation, it’s based on a natural progression of technology, as well as historical precedents (such as the militarization of the police). While we may not have our flying cars, our skies could look like a scene from Blade Runner in only a few years’ time as the world of drones merges with reality. Though it’s all very exciting, it’s easy to forget that it’s something that does directly involve and impact us. It’s our task to be knowledgeable and interested, to be vocal and savvy, and to guide the development of the fledgling technology for the greatest benefit. If we don’t, we’ll just end up with a future of police drones and still be waiting for UPS to drop off that bottle of lube.
A.C. Harrison
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.
While all of this is speculation, it’s based on a natural progression of technology, as well as historical precedents (such as the militarization of the police). While we may not have our flying cars, our skies could look like a scene from Blade Runner in only a few years’ time as the world of drones merges with reality. Though it’s all very exciting, it’s easy to forget that it’s something that does directly involve and impact us. It’s our task to be knowledgeable and interested, to be vocal and savvy, and to guide the development of the fledgling technology for the greatest benefit. If we don’t, we’ll just end up with a future of police drones and still be waiting for UPS to drop off that bottle of lube.
A.C. Harrison
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.
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