Tech
How Tokyo’s drone show spectacular took flight
How did almost two thousand drones light up the sky to create a spectacular better than fireworks? the idea for a done show began down under
The drone show was the true highlight of the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony
1,824 drones formed the shape of the world 175m in the air.
The shapes kept rotating and shifting against each other, and some turned bright blue
Millions of us, across the world were transfixed as the drones rotated just like Planet Earth.
It was breathtaking and was quite literally the turning point that made most of us believe in the Olympics again.
A photo shows a sphere made of drones during the Opening Ceremony of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at National Stadium in Tokyo on July 23, 2021. The summer Olympic games will run until Aug. 8th. ( The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images ) 
epaselect epa09359933 Picture taken from the Shibuya Sky observation deck shows drones forming a globe above the stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, 23 July 2021. EPA/CHRISTOPHER JUE 
Drones in formation fly over the National Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 23, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) 
epa09359956 A photographer takes pictures of drones forming a globe in the sky over the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, 23 July 2021. EPA/PETER KLAUNZER
Did you know Australia was behind the whole light show?
Back in 2019 the country was burning through a devastating black summer, so instead of having sparking flames in the air AKA fireworks, drone light shows became the answer.
They can be fully customised to create anything imaginable, even to John Lennon’s song ‘imagine’ like we saw in Tokyo.
To perform a drone show, multiple quadcopters coordinate to fly in programmed, preset patterns, tracing out shapes in the sky that are often choreographed to music.
After a few test runs, the lightweight drones in Tokyo were all controlled by a team of just 15 people.
In a perfect performance – trained pilots, animators and programmers manoeuvred the high-tech equipment.
With the man behind the idea describing the drone spectacular as “an amazing feat of technology.”
“A lot of the story really came from the creative talents here in Japan, and then we collaborated on best ways to integrate the drones into the overall story,” Intel Olympic and Paralympic general manager Rick Echevarria said.
Will fireworks be replaced in the next few years as this emerging technology gains a sky hold?
TikTok Notes has launched in Australia & Canada as a formidable competitor to Instagram, offering a unique platform for content creation, text and sharing.
“TikTok Notes is a lifestyle platform that offers informative photo-text content about people’s lives, where you can see individuals sharing their travel tips and daily recipes,” reads the official App Store description.
Take note
The app allows users to create content by combining short videos with text-based notes, closely resembling that of Meta’s Instagram.
Whether it’s sharing a quick tutorial, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking message, TikTok Notes is positioned to be a formidable social media platform.
Currently, the app is only available for download and “limited testing” in Australia and Canada.
As it gains momentum, the platform is poised to contest Instagram’s established reign in the social media landscape.
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