At busy city centre or tourist locations, a rack of mini autonomous camera drones is provided, located high and discreet. The rack is networked to a high speed data connection and acts a a secure wireless hub and tracking beacon and charger for the drones.

At home, or anywhere really, the user browses to the €¥€inthesky.com website, enters their payment details, and then selects a location. They now have 10 minutes of exclusive use of one camera drone.

The drone flies according to simple on-screen direction commands, but these are over-ridden by time or distance sensors. The drone always stays one meter away from another object, and if it flies out of range of the wireless network, it uses the homing beacon to help it retrace its steps untillll connectivity is restored.

At the end of the 10 minutes, the user can pay for more time, or end the session. At the end of the session, the drone returns to base, under guidance from the base station, either retracing a route or flying direct.

As the system becomes more popular, and more base stations are installed, drones can be 'passed' from one base to another mid-session, allowing for longer one-way journeys. When battery capacity reaches 40%, cameras are shut off and the drone retuns for recharging, ending the session.
-- pocmloc, Dec 17 2014

But why "€¥€"?
-- hippo, Dec 17 2014


It's a lame attempt to combine money symbols with spelling a common word, as a kind of visual pun. It's not my fault if the people who designed the Euros symbol were idiots who didn't understand the basic principles of currency symbol structure.
-- pocmloc, Dec 17 2014


<cuts to Putin at some G8 thing doing an impromptu rendition of "Let's Face The Music And Dance" with the emphasis on the first line "There may be tRouble ahead...">

You heard it here first, and last as well.
-- not_morrison_rm, Dec 17 2014


Baked in fiction, by Hanna Barbera, who's prescience at having a character called called Barney Rouble is, quite frankly, unheimlich.

//now before prices double!

sp. dRouble
-- not_morrison_rm, Dec 17 2014


//But why "€¥€"?//
Howay, man!
-- calum, Dec 17 2014


This is a good point, with the nature of panopticism someone who is not watching can make a conclusion about who is watching that person from other stuff. In this example the camera drone possibly becomes the guiding preoccupation. the question is how to get the drone to take the place. I think a few surprise swipes on most people should do it. I think he chooses €¥€ because that's his brand.
-- rcarty, Dec 17 2014


I think you would have to fight the paparazzi for air-time.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 17 2014


No you just pay; the fee increments as fewer units are available. If a base station is consistently over-booked, more base stations can be installed in that area.

For special events, portable base stations can be brought in on the tops of vans or lorries or handcarts.
-- pocmloc, Dec 18 2014


Long time wanted one. :) [+]
-- Inyuki, Dec 20 2014


Long time no see [inyuki]!
-- pocmloc, Dec 20 2014



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