Intel's first ever indoor light show shines on Pride with 50 mini drones
It may not be the 1,200 drones that transformed into snowboarders and the Olympic rings for the Winter Games earlier this year, but 50 Intel Shooting Star Mini drones lit up a multi-level store building for a Pride celebration in San Francisco Friday night.
With electric cellist Tina Guo playing covers of Lady Gaga's Born This Way and Katy Perry's Firework, the light show with Intel's lightweight yet durable mini drones made from foam and plastic enthralled a small audience gathered on the first floor of the downtown AT&T store. The historic building from the 1920s used to be a bank.
It was the first indoor show for the drones, which are equipped with LED lights that can make more than 4 billion color combinations. Performer Guo quipped before the show that she hoped no errant drones clipped anyone.
At the brief show, the flying devices descended from a second floor balcony and swarmed together to make different shapes and patterns above the audience's heads while changing colors. After about five minutes of flying around the drones returned to their "nest."
The drones have performed before at the aforementioned Olympics, the Super Bowl LI halftime show with Lady Gaga, and the Coachella Music festival in Southern California -- all outside venues. Add an indoor performance to celebrate the LGBT community to the repertoire.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
