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You’ll be desperate to try this new Oculus Rift–controlled drone

Admit it, you desperately want to try this.

 

Rob Price

Tech

Posted on Apr 24, 2014   Updated on May 31, 2021, 10:31 am CDT

Virtual reality (VR) and drones are the current tech industry darlings, from VR headset developer Oculus Rift being bought out by Facebook for billions, to Google quietly building itself a drone army

But never have the two met so spectacularly as in a recent YouTube video by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

By fitting dual cameras to a DJI Phantom 2 gyrocopter, a research team at the university has enabled “first-person” drone control via the Oculus Rift VR reality headset. The drone operator directs the machine’s flight with a custom control unit, whilst the cameras respond to real-time movements of the headsets, allowing for stereoscopic, drone’s-eye vision. 

I’m sure the industrial applications of this technology are numerous—search-and-rescue teams, surveyors, architects, and firefighters all spring to mind.

But honestly, all I can think about is how much I want one.

Screengrab via YouTube

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*First Published: Apr 24, 2014, 9:50 am CDT