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Even Paper Airplanes See a (Pricey) High-Tech Future at CES

Israeli firm PowerUp Toys showed off a paper plane equipped with some of the latest drone technology at this week's Consumer Electronics Show.
The PowerUp FPV is a live-streaming paper airplane drone.
The PowerUp FPV is a live-streaming paper airplane drone.PowerUP

The humble paper airplane has just been given a digital upgrade.

Israeli firm PowerUp Toys showed off a paper plane equipped with some of the latest drone technology at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"We are actually introducing first person view flight to paper airplanes. So you experience flight as if you were a pilot but on a paper airplane that you folded, which is kind of crazy," said PowerUp Toys CEO, Shai Goetein.

It's certainly crazy, but Goetein thinks consumers will find it fascinating. A user folds the plane and then follows directions to install a power supply, an onboard computer, a propulsion system, a WiFi system, and a myriad of other flight technologies. The end result is a two ounce paper airplane turned drone that can be controlled using a smartphone.

"The first experience is flight and control. We have two motors, you can go up down right and left and you have an app to control the airplane. This is done by WiFi streaming and we have a range up to 200 meters," said Goetein.

The second option for controlling the paper airplane during flight is via a virtual reality headset.

The plane is made from heavy-duty paper, with a rod running through the centre. The rod connects the motor at the plane's front to propellers at the back.

Oh yeah – when the plane goes on sale it’ll set you back $199, or $149 without the headset.