2017年8月4日
By 马克Alamares 首席执行官Mobeon
专题文章

Catch the Buzz: Drone Racing Is the Next Frontier for Sports

As 无人驾驶飞机 have flown from the fringe to the front line of public awareness, it was only a matter of time until they buzzed their way into yet another domain: competitive racing. 这个令人振奋的, hyperspeed esport grabbed an estimated 28 million viewers when it was first broadcast on ESPN in 2016.

The first season of the Drone Racing League (DRL)’s 安联世界冠军系列赛 introduced mass audiences to first-person view (FPV) drone racing on ESPN and ESPN2 in 2016. 两个季节, 今年夏天早些时候首次亮相, culminates with eight pilots vying for the top spot in London. This new test of motor and flight skills has found an audience among gamers, who appreciate its adaptation of gaming mechanics and dynamics in the real world.

The DRL has outpaced rival leagues with high-profile partnerships with ESPN and Allianz, as well as its $20 million Series B investment from Sky, 勒克斯资本, 自由媒体, and its collaboration with Amazon Prime Video. The league has also done much to develop drone racing into a more refined spectator sport, going to extreme lengths to standardize the rules, 无人驾驶飞机, 以及用于举办活动的课程.

Although they share some similarities with consumer 无人驾驶飞机, professional racing 无人驾驶飞机— small quadcopters purpose-built for racing—are designed to reach speeds of 90–100 mph. They’re quite different from 无人驾驶飞机 used for aerial photography/videography, which primarily hover for smooth or steady shots.

FPV drone racing allows the pilots to see from the perspective of the drone via a live video feed transmitted directly to the pilot’s VR headset-like goggles. Races are held in most major cities around the world and require a racing drone, 飞行控制器, 和护目镜.

The DRL has released simulator software for the Mac and PCs that allow potential pilots to run through simulations of some of the actual courses to test their skills. Pilots who do well in simulations may be invited to compete in a qualifying tournament.

Drone racing requires a unique skill set that skews slightly toward a younger market since it combines the quick response and skills required for gaming and tinkering, as well as some knowledge of mechanical design and engineering. It combines the real and virtual worlds in the manner of a real-life video game.

DRL做了很多正确的事情, 但在它成为一项大众运动之前, 它必须克服几个障碍. Because the DRL is not able to stream races in real time, all productions are currently pre-taped episodes. Onboard camera footage is added postproduction, since the live feeds from the 无人驾驶飞机 can be unstable and are prone to interference. 一旦这个问题解决了, many new viewers will anxiously be waiting to experience the event as it is happening.

Drone racing is still geared toward hobbyists, and must jump from geek culture to pop culture. By focusing more on the narrative and human elements, the sport’s proponents can make it more accessible to a wider audience. The DRL must also make the 无人驾驶飞机 easier to follow on screen by adding graphic overlays that track the 无人驾驶飞机 as they zip around.

Another necessity is making races easily viewable online because young people don’t watch “legacy” TV. The DRL has limited its viewership to traditional channels. 幸运的是, FPV drone racing is seeing the emergence of personalities who will attract fans to the DRL as it grows and becomes available to more media outlets and online platforms.

快节奏的动作, 令人信服的故事, 脆的评论, 漂亮的图形, 快切镜头角度, 即时回放, 还有吸引人的主持人, it’s easy to see why FPV drone racing is generating so much buzz.

[This article appears in the July/August 2017 issue of 流媒体杂志 as "The Buzz Is Real: Drone Racing Is the Next Frontier for 在线直播."]