This isn’t your average drone. Meet the Flying Eye from 360 Designs, heralded as the world’s first broadcast-quality 6K VR drone. Capable of streaming live, 6K, 360-degree video over a range of five miles, this may just be the most advanced live-streaming drone on the market.
Much of the Flying Eye’s magic depends upon a custom wireless transmission system known as Breeze developed exclusively by 360 Designs. Thanks to this high-tech system, live VR streams can be shared just about anywhere in the world via YouTube, Facebook, or VR headsets, and all in high quality. You’ll have a literal sense of what it means to get a bird’s eye view of things as you virtually hover over your favorite football stadium, music venue, and more.
“We wanted to create a broadcast-quality live 360 drone platform for professionals, so they can create stunning live VR productions, with or without the drone in shot,” said Alx Klive, CEO of 360 Designs. “The sky is no longer the limit.”
As the world turns increasingly to 360 video for media consumption, drones like the Flying Eye will become ever more important to how audiences see their news, their entertainment, and everything in between. Thanks to this drone’s studio-grade camera sensors and a broadcast-standard SDI/NDI workflow, 360 Designs promises customers high-quality live image and an easy-to-integrate system.
Key features of the Flying Eye include its near uncompressed, low latency (less than one second) broadcast-grade 6K video, along with a best-in-class 360 camera in the form of the Mini EYE 3 (though the drone can carry other 3-camera, HDMI, or SDI-based VR rigs). And because the drone offers automated live stitching, you won’t need to string together your footage at a later date — it’ll all be done for you on-site. Best of all, perhaps, is the ability of the Flying Eye to be operated by a single person. Because it shoots in 360 degrees, you won’t need someone else to deal with camera positioning.
The drone system includes a Matrice 600 series commercial UAV; a choice of VR camera (Mini Eye 3 or other SDI/HDMI cameras), a camera stabilization system, the Breeze wireless transmission and stitching system (includes ground station), and waterproof Pelican case(s). But be warned, this kind of technology doesn’t come cheap. The Flying Eye will set you back an arm and a leg at $75,000.
