Not surprisingly, drone racing has its own lingo. Some are smooth as silk and cut a clean line around the course. Some fly hair-raisingly close to obstacles. And many pilots have their own distinctive flying styles. Many work for hours on their maneuvers and post video to YouTube that can garner big followings - even sponsors. Similar to video gamers, the pilots use a handheld control set to fly the drones and the top fliers go by handles such as UmmaGawd, MrSteele and Yoda. Much like NASCAR and Formula One drivers, some drone racing pilots have established followings. One of the DRL' s hopes is to mimic the success of e-sport live video game competitions that can fill arenas like Madison Square Garden.ĭown the road, the DRL also hopes to make drone racing a better spectator sport, perhaps by using technology similar to the FanVision experience that RSE Ventures brought to NASCAR racing.įanVision allows fans in the grandstands to view the race in front of them on personal monitors and even switch their perspective from driver cockpit to driver cockpit. And first-person viewing lends itself to an amazing spectator experience with virtual reality." "The pilots have to have great reflexes and hone their skills over hours and hours of practice. "We backed it because it has all the makings of a modern-day sport: Twitch meets Formula One," said Matt Higgins, president and CEO of RSE Ventures. "Flying these things is like a drug - when you experience the sensation once, you want to do it again and again," says pilot Ryan Gury, a 32-year-old Pennsylvania native who dovetailed his racing-drone design company, DroneKraft, into the DRL this spring and now works as the DRL's chief of product, handling the company's race course designs as well as some marketing work because, "I've never been this obsessed with anything." "It's a completely immersive experience," says 34-year-old Drone Racing League founder Nick Horbaczewski. Pilots and spectators wearing their own goggles say part of the pull is you literally feel as if you are flying. Imagine a sport in which remote-controlled, custom-built, four-propeller drones that can travel faster than 70 mph embark on races through gated obstacle courses or even dogfight in mid-air - all while sending back live feeds that are viewed through virtual-reality FPV (first-person-view) video goggles. And the DRL - which gained some immediate legitimacy in the alphabet-soup world of drone sports when RSE Ventures made a $1 million investment in them this week - fits Ross' checklist perfectly. On the surface, it doesn't seem like a natural fit: A 75-year-old NFL owner/real estate developer teams up with a bunch of 30-something guys seeking some venture capital for a startup called the Drone Racing League?īut then, the reason Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross started his spin-off company RSE Ventures a few years ago was to get ahead of the curve and imagine how sports, entertainment and technology can be fused together in the future. Proponents say sky's the limit for sport of drone racing You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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