Skip to main content

Here's a floating billboard that's a cross between a drone and a blimp


This inflatable machine combines the maneuverability of a drone with efficiency of a blimp. Developed by Swiss startup Aerotain, the helium-filled, propeller-powered Skye can be outfitted with an internal projector to display moving pictures on the balloon's skin, turning it into some kind of spherical billboard that can float safely around and interact with people.

"This is where the magic happens; four motors are allowing it to perform any movement, so you can really move it in the air like a flying eye," Aerotain co-founder Daniel Meier told Reuters. "There is a computer on board which knows exactly how it's orientated in the world, and then it gives commands to the motors to actually align it to where you want it to be. And there are four motors on it which can rotate around their axis and with them you can precisely control it in any environment, basically."

Skye has been used at events as a crowd-pleaser, but it's also strong enough to carry on-board cameras for aerial photography. Below is an early demo video of the machine in action.


[h/t: Fortune]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Adorable Sculptures of Yen Yen Lo

These images are from a series of wall sculptures created by Yen Yen Lo . Here you can see her intricately textured ceramic pieces, looking downright adorable. Yen Yen Lo's eye for the unique and whimsical is delightful. Apparently they are not intended for kids under 16. Fifteen-year-olds cannot be trusted with fragile stuff. Get them a Funko Pop instead.

What if directors actually looked like the characters in their films?

One of the things I like about the internet is the fact that it provides an endless showcase for the most incredible corners of human creativity. Like, for example, these quirky wooden sculptures by Seattle-based artist Mike Leavitt . For his latest series, King Cuts , Mike transforms some of the most renowned filmmakers into satirical sculptures. They're on view at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York until June 11, consists of 16 new hand-carved sculptures of directors like Tim Burton, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. The artist fused Burton with three of the filmmaker's works;  Batman , Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands , while Hitchcock is transformed into one of his own attacking birds. Watch the making of the Tarantino sculpture below. You can also follow Mike on  Instagram to see his work in progress.

Feast your eyes on the making of 'Heisei Mary'

This is a time-lapse video of  Japanese artist  Shohei Otomo drawing Heisei Mary  — a naked Sailor Moon-like figure completely covered in tattoos. The highly-detailed body ink features Spiderman, Darth Vader, Hello Kitty, Naruto, Street Fighter and Dragon Ball characters to name a few. It's really satisfying to see an artist's process, the way their illustration grows and grows out of nothing. Shohei is known for his hyper-realistic sketches using ballpoint pens. Born in Tokyo in 1980, he is the son of Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of the manga Akira . He exhibits his work regularly in Japan and Australia as well as in Mexico and France.  Three weeks worth of work are sped up into less than four minutes.