While some details such as final pricing still remain firmly TBA, we do now know a lot more about the forthcoming Antigravity A1 360-drone, and it all looks rather interesting.
The first drone from the Insta360-backed Antigravity sounded intriguing when it was first soft launched at the end of July in a classic spoiler operation to take the gloss off the new DJI 360 camera. The company promised new details in August and now we have them. Well some of them; we don’t have such crucial stuff such as price, regional availability, and a lot of the technical details that are going to inform an actual purchase decision. But we do have the name, Antigravity A1, confirmation of a lot of its abilities, some new photos, and, of course, a shiny new video.
Unpacking all that, Antigravity A1 features a dual-lens camera system for 360 degree capture. The lenses are mounted on the top and bottom of the drone's fuselage, enabling complete environmental capture with no blind spots. The idea is that advanced stitching technology renders the drone invisible when viewed through the goggles and in the final footage. This takes place in realtime too, enabling pilots to look around wherever they are in the sky from the drone’s POV while wearing the Vision piloting goggles.
No word on their tech specs yet, but these are a crucial part of the whole system, and even have a front screen on one lens so that other people can see where you're flying. Also key is the new Grip controller. Antigravity says that this responds to natural hand movements, eliminating the need for traditional stick controls. Point the controller in a direction, and that’s where the drone flies. It’s difficult to tell just from the video alone, but you would imagine that anyone who has already flown a drone using a conventional controller before is going to have to unlearn quite a lot of muscle memory before they get proficient with the new controls. Those that have used something such as DJI's Motion Controller might feel right at home.
One other thing well worth mentioning from the press information so far, and definitely majored on in the video, is that every angle is recorded all the time. Sure, footage can be played back in 360-degree video, but it also enables 2D effects such as Tiny Planet and horizon flips. “This technology also allows users to export multiple angles from a single clip in any aspect ratio without losing quality,” says the company.
The upshot is that you can play fast and loose with framing and recover a lot of things in post.
Another feature worth noting is the payload detector. Add any weight to the system at all and it won’t fly, period.
"We didn't want to just build another drone. We wanted to create an entirely new way to fly," said BC Nie, Head of Marketing at Antigravity. "A1 is the first step in reimagining flight as something anyone can enjoy — something that is safe, intuitive, expressive, and endlessly creative.”
Will it be cheap too? Probably not. The goggles alone suggest this is not a mass market proposition. But nonetheless, the investment in the Grip controller suggests that Antigravity is aiming at more than just the existing drone market. We’ll know more closer to when the Antigravity A1 takes flight some time in January.
In the meantime, applications are now open for the first-ever Antigravity co-creation project. Selected participants will receive a pre-production Antigravity A1 to test, explore, and share their ideas. The best ideas will be integrated into the retail version, and contributors will have a chance to win a share of a $20,000 reward pool. Applications are open at www.antigravity.tech.