Game of Drones

The media is awash with all sorts of drone related stories and hypothesis. As a new technology (and as with many previous new techs) it has a mixture of fans, supporters, detractors and conspiracy theorists. The long term benefits are clear to me. Safety applications, search and rescue, hazardous environment work etc. The current anarchy over drone use and some of the unacceptable uses we see in the media are a necessary pre-cursor to forming legislation that then allows the drone sector to orientate itself into an acceptable mode of operation for the masses. What does this mean for small businesses and those who stand to benefit the most?

New perspectives

There were clearly some small businesses that were going to latch on to drone use very quickly. Wedding photographers latched on to the idea of using drones and offered prospective clients the unique angles for their big day that only a drone can offer. Other sectors such as the building trade could view and assess buildings without the need for scaffolding and farmers could use drones to get a view of parts of their estate without leaving the farm house. Drones were capable of servicing these needs with little or no modification and piloting them was not beyond the man in the street.

Drones as part of critical infrastructure?

This is where the reality of drone use started to depart into the realms of wishful thinking. The media made a lot of the concept of drones in urban locations supporting critical infrastructure such as the emergency services. Drones flying defibrillators to heart attack victims appeared in the press. As a drone pilot and someone who has delivered a safety app into the emergency service environment already (REALRIDER) I cant safely say this wont work. Drone navigation in urban areas is fraught with problems, the smaller drones can't carry the payload required and there are existing laws that prohibit the drones operating in public areas. On top of all that the conspiracy theorists will have a field day with claims of surveillance by the back door. Don't expect to see this any time soon.

What can a drone deliver?

According to Amazon, a large parcel! When the Amazon news story first appeared it created a huge stir in the media but the reality is that this concept has some large flaws in it. The technical ones of battery life/range, payload, navigation etc. are all still there, Amazon did not conquer any of those. Other issues include what the drone does if it can't find you, what it does if you're not home etc. also detract from the business case. Lastly, drone interference is going to come into play. Bringing an Amazon drone down to take the payload is going to become a criminal enterprise in itself.  I suspect that Amazon has enough money and smart people to be able to think around some of these issues but I also suspect that we are still a good five years away from any kind of commercial service based around drone delivery.

So what is the reality?

In truth the reality is fairly underwhelming. Drones are still developing as a piece of technology, are not that cheap (but getting cheaper) and require some skills to operate. The real devil is the legislation (or lack of it). There are some obvious security, privacy and safety issues that the current legislation doesn't deal with - most specifically relating to operating drones within spaces used by the public. The government will need to legislate to ensure that drones are not a public nuisance, not a hazard to the public and do not facilitate criminality. 

Accepting that the above will take care of itself, the other challenge with drones is a human one. These devices are semi-autonomous and capable of making a decision based around the circumstances they find themselves in.  Humans are naturally suspicious and the potential for a disconnect between humans and the machines is likely. There needs to be a phased approach to using drones in situations where the public are involved and not just to force drones into society against public opinion. My gut feeling is that drones need some early positive impact, a quick win or two to calm the public perception before the drone arms-race creates a wholly negative feeling.