Competitive drone racing is now a real thing and it takes advantages of two of the hottest trends so far in early 21st century technology: Remote-controlled drones and virtual reality headsets. The Drone Racing League this week started posting some incredible videos that show competitive drone races in action and they look like they could become the coolest new sport I’ve seen in a long, long time.
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So how does it work? Basically, the contestants strap VR headsets to their faces that give them live feeds from their drones’ front-facing cameras. This essentially allows them to see where their drones are going from a first-person perspective. They then use remote controls to steer their drones through obstacle courses that are a little reminiscent of the podracing courses in the Star Wars movies.
Here’s a video showing a recent race that took place at the Miami Dolphins’ Sun Life Stadium in Florida. As you’ll see, the drone racers are capable of maneuvering their vehicles through all kinds of crazy twists and turns:
It’s not all successful runs, of course. Here’s a video showing their biggest crashes:
And finally, this video gives you a quick primer on the sport overall:
To see more exciting drone racing videos, be sure to follow the official Drone Racing League YouTube account at this link.
