Okay, I have to reevaluate my feelings towards drones now:
http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1422617
Using drones to deliver beer. Awesome use of technology.
ETA: YouTube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=janur7RJwm0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
That and to take paparazzi pics of celebrity weddings- a good way to get people (and people with powerful friends) to keep drone use in check.
I’m torn- I’m not for LEO drones all over the place, but I’ve gotten into RC aircraft in the last 18 months. RC aircraft are all moving towards stabilized systems and are becoming flying computers now. With in a year or two there will be off the shelf ‘neighborhood’ coverage drone systems- and to be perfectly frank I wouldn’t mind literally being a ‘helicopter’ parent with a UAV watching the kids go to school.
it’ll always start in the private sector. you will find a seemingly legitimate use for such a system. then that system will capture some sort of crime and of course you had a live stream plus cloud back up on that aerial surveillance and that data will be used to solve the crime.
before you know it the aerial surveillance will be as common as atm surveillance. license plate reader algorithms, facial recognition, etc etc.