Drones Replicating Star Wars

Drones have been making some news headlines in recent years, and pretty much for all of the wrong reasons. They are relatively cheap and can access places that are difficult for humans to reach, and often can do so without worrying about being detected. Of course, with our society being what it is, that means that they are inevitably going to be used for spying and surveillance. Going further, with the society being what it is, that also means that these drones will be used excessively, and in an increasingly intrusive manner, as the illusion of freedom and democracy - two things that we were all taught were good and strongly in place in the United States many years ago - continues to unravel.

Yes, drones were developed by researchers, most likely funded by corporate interests on some level or another, and so it was only a matter of time that they would be utilized in such an unfortunate manner.

Indeed, the appearance of drones over the horizon, both literally and figuratively, signals the ushering in of a new era - one in which we are coming ever closer to a modern day version of the Orwellian "Big Brother" dictatorship, with advanced technology being employed to serve the interests of the corporate state.

In other words, they are bad news, by and large. It seems inevitable that those things will soon populate our skies tremendously. After all, drones are small and relatively cheap to make. Really, it just seems like a matter of time.

That said, there are some cool aspects to them, as well. It is only natural that these things, like most other things, can be either good or bad. It really depends on the manner in which they are being used. Some disabled people use them in order to be able to travel, in a sense, with a measure of freedom that they would otherwise not have.

Also, they are pretty fun to have, surely. People can often buy them and fly them. With the cameras on the drones that you can view from the ground, you can see things and get views that would never happen when stuck on the ground. It seems to me only a matter of time before such drones begin to carry human beings up there with them, sort of like the jet packs that many of us expected would someday be commonplace.

How cool would that be, you ask?

Well, it sounds pretty cool. But I worry about some things, such as the pollution of the skies in every sense, as well as greater levels of intrusion. Also, there will likely be increased injuries and deaths, at least initially. I wonder what these things will do to birds and bats, who previously pretty much owned the air, having it all to themselves.

Still, again, these things are inevitable. I can hardly think up any reason short of an apocalypse or some such tragedy (if tragedy is what it would be) where these things will not become significantly more common in our everyday lives.

Whether we like it or not, they are here, and here to stay.

That said, they can also be used by some people in an entertaining and impressive way. Most likely, they will start to become more inspired by art and such.

When it comes to mixing art with the intrigue of modern technology, we can hardly do better than Star Wars, which combined traditional aspects of Greek Mythology with the impressive technology that we can imagine for the future.

Some people have already created such models. A guy in France has converted drones into smaller, but fully flying models of the Millenium Falcon, the Tie Fighter, and most recently, the Imperial Death Star.

And as you can see below, another guy (I don't think it's the same guy, but I could be wrong) has converted a drone into a miniature Endor Landspeeder, with an Imperial Speed Trooper at the helm. It is being flown through the trees, and just looks really cool. At some point, you can see what the camera on board sees, and it looks indeed like something you would see from Star Wars!

So, yes, drones can be good fun, as well! I just wonder how long it will take before we actually get full-sized versions of these things, and before people themselves can begin to be on board, to take Star Wars themed flights personally, physically.

Just a matter of time, really.

Here is a video of one such session and, below that, an article on the guy from France who has built impressive models of iconic Star Wars ships.

Imperial Star Destroyer drone patrols the skies above France by  Anthony Domanico, March 25, 2015

http://www.cnet.com/news/imperial-star-destroyer-drone-patrols-the-skies-above-france/#ftag=YHF65cbda0