A flying camera ... on a leash
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0:00 - 0:03I came here to show you
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0:03 - 0:04the Fotokite.
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0:04 - 0:06It's a tethered, flying camera.
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0:06 - 0:08But before I do that, I want to tell you a bit about
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0:08 - 0:10where it came from, what motivated it.
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0:10 - 0:12So I was born in Russia,
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0:12 - 0:15and three years ago, in 2011,
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0:15 - 0:18there were the Russian federal elections.
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0:18 - 0:20There were massive irregularities reported,
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0:20 - 0:21and people came out to protest,
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0:21 - 0:25which was very unlikely for Russia.
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0:25 - 0:27And no one really knew
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0:27 - 0:29how significant these protests were,
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0:29 - 0:30because, for whatever reason,
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0:30 - 0:32the world media largely ignored it.
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0:32 - 0:34Now, there was a group of photographers
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0:34 - 0:38who kind of flew flying cameras as a hobby —
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0:38 - 0:41usually photographing things like the Sphinx,
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0:41 - 0:43the Pyramids — who happened to be
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0:43 - 0:46right around the corner, and they flew a camera
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0:46 - 0:48and they took some snapshots,
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0:48 - 0:50some panoramas of this demonstration.
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0:50 - 0:52Just completely independent entity,
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0:52 - 0:54completely random occurrence,
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0:54 - 0:58and the image, when I saw it, it really struck me.
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0:58 - 0:59Here's one of the panoramas.
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0:59 - 1:01So in a single image,
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1:01 - 1:05you can really see the scale of this event —
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1:05 - 1:08just the number of people,
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1:08 - 1:11the colors, the banners.
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1:11 - 1:14You just can't consider this insignificant.
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1:14 - 1:17All in a single image, which was really cool to me.
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1:17 - 1:19And I think, in the future,
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1:19 - 1:22journalism and many other professions,
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1:22 - 1:24there are flying cameras already
quite commonly out there, -
1:24 - 1:28but I think, you wait a few months, a few years,
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1:28 - 1:30and for many professions, it's really going to be
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1:30 - 1:32a requirement.
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1:32 - 1:34And it make sense. It's
such a unique perspective. -
1:34 - 1:37Nothing really communicates
this scale, for example, -
1:37 - 1:41in context, in a way that this does.
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1:41 - 1:43But there are a few hurdles,
and they are quite basic -
1:43 - 1:45and quite fundamental.
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1:45 - 1:46One is piloting.
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1:46 - 1:50So for this image, they flew a camera,
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1:50 - 1:55a five kilogram device with an SLR under it.
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1:55 - 1:59It's quite heavy, lots of
spinning, sharp things. -
1:59 - 2:02It's a bit uncomfortable to fly,
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2:02 - 2:03probably also for the operator.
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2:03 - 2:07In fact, you can see that on the
back of the pilot's shirt, it says, -
2:07 - 2:09"No questions until landing"
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2:09 - 2:11in Russian and in English,
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2:11 - 2:13because people are curious, and they'll go tap you,
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2:13 - 2:16and then you lose your focus and things happen.
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2:16 - 2:18And these guys are great. They're professionals;
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2:18 - 2:21they're really careful in what they do.
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2:21 - 2:24So in the protests, maybe you noticed,
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2:24 - 2:26they flew over the river so it was quite safe.
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2:26 - 2:29But this doesn't necessarily apply to
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2:29 - 2:31all people and all conditions,
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2:31 - 2:34so we really have to make piloting easier.
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2:34 - 2:36The other problem is regulations,
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2:36 - 2:39or rather, the lack of good regulation.
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2:39 - 2:41For many good reasons, it's just difficult
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2:41 - 2:43to come up with common sense laws
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2:43 - 2:45to regulate flying cameras.
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2:45 - 2:47So we already have cameras.
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2:47 - 2:50Everyone here, I'm sure, has a
smartphone with a camera, right? -
2:50 - 2:51There are more and more of them.
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2:51 - 2:54You hear about people with
Google Glass being attacked. -
2:54 - 2:56You hear about, actually, a drone pilot,
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2:56 - 2:58a hobbyist, was attacked two weeks ago
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2:58 - 3:00because he was flying near a beach.
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3:00 - 3:03Here's some personal input I didn't expect.
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3:03 - 3:05Just yesterday, I was attacked by a guy
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3:05 - 3:08who claimed that I was filming him.
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3:08 - 3:11I was checking my email right here —
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3:11 - 3:14easy way to get input for your talk.
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3:14 - 3:16But I think there are better solutions.
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3:16 - 3:18I think we have to defuse the situation.
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3:18 - 3:21We have to come up with responsible solutions
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3:21 - 3:23that address the privacy issues
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3:23 - 3:26and the safety, accountability issues
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3:26 - 3:30but still give us that perspective.
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3:30 - 3:33And this is one potential solution.
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3:33 - 3:36So this is the Fotokite.
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3:36 - 3:38Well, let me see, it's a quadrocopter,
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3:38 - 3:42but what's kind of special
about it is there's a leash. -
3:42 - 3:45It's literally a dog leash. It's very convenient.
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3:45 - 3:47And the neat thing about it is,
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3:47 - 3:50to fly it, there's no joysticks, nothing like this.
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3:50 - 3:52You just turn it on
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3:52 - 3:55and you point in the direction that you want to fly.
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3:55 - 3:56You give it a little twist.
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3:56 - 4:00That's kind of the way you communicate.
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4:02 - 4:04And there it goes.
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4:04 - 4:07(Applause)
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4:13 - 4:15So the interaction is super simple.
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4:15 - 4:17It's like a personal flying pet.
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4:17 - 4:20It just always maintains a certain angle to you,
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4:20 - 4:22and if I move around with it,
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4:22 - 4:24it'll actually follow me naturally.
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4:24 - 4:26And of course, we can build on top of this.
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4:26 - 4:29So this leash has some additional electronics.
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4:29 - 4:31You can turn it on.
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4:31 - 4:36And now, it's like telling your dog to fly lower,
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4:36 - 4:39if you have such a dog. So, I can press a button
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4:39 - 4:41and manipulate it rather easily.
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4:41 - 4:44So I just shifted its position.
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4:44 - 4:46And it's really safe.
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4:46 - 4:48I don't know about you guys in the front row —
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4:48 - 4:51(Laughter) — but at least in principle,
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4:51 - 4:53you have to agree that you feel safer
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4:53 - 4:55because there is a physical connection.
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4:55 - 4:56Live demos are hard, right?
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4:56 - 4:58Things go wrong all the time.
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4:58 - 4:59But no matter what,
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4:59 - 5:01this thing will actually prevent this thing
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5:01 - 5:03from going into you.
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5:03 - 5:05What's more, it tells you immediately that
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5:05 - 5:07I am the one responsible for this device.
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5:07 - 5:10You don't have to look for someone controlling it.
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5:10 - 5:12Now, I can tell you that it's easy a lot,
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5:12 - 5:15but I think a really good way to prove that
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5:15 - 5:18is to grab a second one
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5:18 - 5:22and launch it.
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5:22 - 5:26And if I can do this on stage live,
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5:26 - 5:28then I can show each and every one of you
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5:28 - 5:31in five minutes how to
operate one of these devices. -
5:41 - 5:43So now we have two eyes in the sky. (Applause)
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5:43 - 5:48And now the trick is getting them back.
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5:48 - 5:51(Laughter)
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5:52 - 5:54So my question now to you is,
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5:54 - 5:56well, it's a nice solution,
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5:56 - 5:58it's very accessible, it's safe.
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5:58 - 6:00What would you use it for?
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6:00 - 6:03What would you use such a camera for in your life?
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6:03 - 6:06Thank you.
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6:06 - 6:10(Applause)
- Title:
- A flying camera ... on a leash
- Speaker:
- Sergei Lupashin
- Description:
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Let's admit it: aerial photo drones and UAVs are a little creepy, and they come with big regulatory and safety problems. But aerial photos can be a powerful way of telling the truth about the world: the size of a protest, the spread of an oil spill, the wildlife hidden in a delta. Sergei Lupashin demos Fotokite, a nifty new way to see the world from on high, safely and under control.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 06:23
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash | ||
Madeleine Aronson accepted English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for A flying camera ... on a leash |