This was published 9 years ago
Drones and tourists: More annoying than a selfie stick
By Lee Tulloch
Drones ... Who needs them?Credit: Jason South
The most ridiculed gift last Christmas was the selfie stick, otherwise known as "the wand of narcissism". I have no opinion on this device except to say it's already rather old hat.
What every trend-conscious traveller wants this year is a personal drone.
A friend was more than miffed last Australia Day when a drone launched from a neighbouring house flew across her deck as the family was sitting down to eat the holiday roast, nearly colliding with someone's head. It seems these dastardly little objects have become the scourge of the suburbs. They're relatively inexpensive. Even top-of-the-line drones for hobbyists taking photographs – not the military type of drone — can be had for a few hundred dollars. Where kids were once content to remotely push little wooden boats around a pond, now anyone is able to launch mini blitzkriegs in the air with relative ease.
In Australia, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Remotely Piloted Aircraft, as they are also known, are legal for amateur purposes, as long as they're not flown over populated areas such as beaches and other people's backyards, or within 30 metres of a vehicle, boat or building that is not your private property, or above 123m. There are obvious privacy issues if these rules aren't followed, as drones carrying cameras are useful snooping devices.
Laws aside, I'm not sure how one polices these wayward drones. I suppose it's up to the droned-upon to make a formal complaint. Apart from privacy concerns, one downside to letting anyone fly a drone is there's no driving test to operate them. That makes for some scary accidents. Last December, a customer at a TGI Fridays in New York had part of his nose clipped off when a drone crashed into him.
I had my first run-in with a drone last year on a ship cruising through the Greek islands. The cruise line had hired a crew to film a particularly interesting part of the journey, through the narrow Corinth Canal, and the crew had brought a drone to capture moving images of the sailing for the website.
I was enjoying a quiet cocktail on the deck when the thing buzzed around my head, giving me a fright. While the cruise line had given us warning there would be photography, I'd missed the memo that much of commercial travel photography these days involves drones.
Fast forward to summer on Sydney Harbour. Once more I'm on a cruise ship. Once more I'm on the deck having a cocktail. Once more a drone is launched from the top deck, swooping around, taking videos of us!
Drones can have built-in cameras or work with a GoPro attachment. This makes the concept of a static camera or phone, even if attached to a telescopic stick, so 2014. With drones so accessible, anyone can create aerial videos, with their own self as the star, in 360-degree surround vision. It's very disconcerting but I fear it's going to get worse. Consider this interview in The Guardian by Mirko Kovac of London's Aerial Robotics laboratory: "The next step is to incorporate drones into smart cities where they will fly in swarms like starlings to conserve energy, deliver mail, bouncing Wi-Fi signals, cleaning windows, monitoring traffic and, of course, us."
Drones are very cool, especially in Asia. Chinese superstar Zhang Ziyi was recently proposed to with a drone-delivered engagement ring. I am right now imagining all those tourists gathered on the Champ du Mars with their quadcopters, the common four-propeller type of drone, launching them at the Eiffel Tower.
If people taking group selfies annoy you, the coming drone offensive may send you insane, or permanently back indoors. It will be worse than jet skis, which at least can't be used on dry ground. If you think it's just a fad, consider travelbydrone.com, where amateur and professional "pilots" post drone-enabled videography, taken in hundreds of locations around the world, mapped so you can click on a destination and get an aerial view. Many of these are very well shot and put together. I watched two filmed on the Champ du Mars. There's obviously a market for many more.
If you're thinking of getting a drone for your next trip, I saw a cartoon this morning that offers some excellent advice. "Have you given up on life?" it asks. Or "Are you Japanese?" If you answer YES to either of these questions, a drone is for you. Otherwise: Buzz off!
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