Skip to main content

Remember Intel’s 300-drone light show at the Super Bowl? China just did one with 1,000

1,000 EHang UAVs set flying formation record in China
Never let it be said that China doesn’t know how to do things at scale!

Following the Super Bowl’s recent halftime show, which consisted of hundreds of swarming drones, the Chinese drone company EHang has upped the ante with an epic, record-setting drone light show — consisting of a whopping 1,000 quadcopters.

The so-called “Meteor Sky”performance was recently carried out in the densely populated city of Guangzhou to mark the Chinese Lantern Festival. If you’ve ever thought the use of unmanned aerial vehicles was limited to recording video and potentially one day delivering your Amazon packages, the spectacle of 1,000 drones changing color in synchronization with one another will change your mind forever.

According to EHang, the demonstration was a test to see whether drones may potentially represent an environmentally-friendly alternative to fireworks. Based on this performance, we certainly wouldn’t be against it — although you’d have to wonder about the necessary FAA clearances to fly this number of drones over so many people in the U.S.

The drones participating were all identical models of EHang’s GhostDrone 2.0, a mid-priced quadcopter best known for its 4K filming capabilities and first-person view VR goggles. Laying out all the drones for launch took up an area of 951 feet x 62 feet, and required a staff of thirty EHang engineers to orchestrate the display. Between choreographing and testing the spectacular show, these engineers spent thousands of hours making sure everything worked as well as possible.

Amazingly, no drones crashed into one another during the resulting flight — and they were each able to stay at least 5 feet apart throughout the performance.

Perhaps most impressive of all? The whole thing was controlled from just one single computer on the ground. Now that’s a time you don’t want your MacBook to crash…

Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
The 11 best Father’s Day deals that you can get for Sunday
Data from a workout showing on the screen of the Apple Watch Series 8.

Father's Day is fast approaching and there's still time to buy your beloved Dad a sweet new device to show him how much you love him. That's why we've rounded up the ten best Father's Day tech deals going on right now. There's something for most budgets here, including if you're able to spend a lot on your loved one. Read on while we take you through the highlights and remember to order fast so you don't miss out on the big day.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 -- $200, was $230

While it's the Plus version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 that features in our look at the best tablets, the standard variety is still worth checking out. Saving your Dad the need to dig out their laptop or squint at a small phone screen, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 offers a large 10.5-inch LCD display and all the useful features you would expect. 128GB of storage means plenty of room for all your Dad's favorite apps as well as games too. A long-lasting battery and fast charging save him the need for a power source too often too.

Read more
The Apollo wearable is proven to help you sleep better (and it’s on sale)
Apollo wearable worn during sleep in bed.

This content was produced in partnership with Apollo Neuro.
Stress, anxiety, and insomnia are all concerning things that just about everyone struggles with at one time or another. Maybe you can sleep, fending off insomnia, but you lack quality sleep and don’t feel rested in the morning. Or, maybe when it’s time to kick back and relax, you just can’t find a way to do so. There are many solutions for these issues, some work, and others don’t, but one unlikely area of support can be found in a modern, smart wearable.

Medicine is the obvious choice, but not everyone prefers to go that route. There is an answer in modern technology or rather a modern wearable device. One such device is the Apollo wearable, which improves sleep and stress relief via touch therapy. According to Apollo Neuro, the company behind the device, which is worn on your ankle, wrist or clipped to your clothing, it sends out waves of vibrations to help your body relax and reduce feelings of stress. It's an interesting new approach to a common problem that has typically been resolved via medicine, therapy, or other more invasive and time-consuming techniques. The way it utilizes those vibrations, uniquely placed and administered, to create a sense of peace, makes us ask, can it really cure what ails us? We’ll dig a little deeper into how it achieves what it does and what methods it’s using to make you feel better.

Read more
What comes after Webb? NASA’s next-generation planet-hunting telescope
An illustration shows how NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory would measure the atmosphere of distant planets.

When it comes to building enormous, complex space telescopes, agencies like NASA have to plan far in advance. Even though the James Webb Space Telescope only launched recently, astronomers are already busy thinking about what will come after Webb — and they've got ambitious plans.

The big plan for the next decades of astronomy research is to find habitable planets, and maybe even to search for signs of life beyond Earth. That's the lofty goal of the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a space telescope currently in the planning phase that is aimed at discovering 25 Earth-like planets around sun-like stars.

Read more