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49 drones light up the sky in art installation

Ars electronica
Ars Electronica

An Austrian art and technology group has put together an interesting and possibly record-breaking show by sending 49 tiny drones into the air, outfitted with lights, to dance and form shapes during a festival.

The art insitution, Ars Electronica, has been planning the Sept. 1 show for a few months, and although it's not quite as impressive technically as the martial demonstrations of military drones, it's a lot prettier. They've cut it together artistically in this video:

There are 49 of the tiny quad-rotor copters doing synchronized flying, which they claim is the most ever put aloft at the same time yet — outside, at least. Coordinating the movements of so many small craft is a difficult job when things like wind and slight variations in power and charge are taken into account.

Not much is written about the quad-rotor flock in particular on the festival's website, but there's a lot of information about other installations, the event and the society itself.

— via Dvice

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.