360-Degree Drone

Antigravitiy A1 with a 360° camera and 3D glasses

Flying drones requires careful consideration and, above all, thorough preparation for many reasons. You can read more about this in the section below. The technology behind it, however, is fascinating and is becoming easier and easier to use. Until now, filming windsurfing or wingfoil videos required very precise flying to keep the subject of interest exactly in the camera’s frame at all times.

Insta360 has now released a camera drone that captures a 360-degree panorama, from which the subject can later be extracted as a video or still image. The downside of this technology, however, is that the resolution is lower than that of a standard drone once you zoom in more closely on the video during post-production.

The Antigravitiy A1 drone comes with 3D glasses that allow you to view the flight from the drone's perspective. It is controlled using a simple handheld controller. The drone has a control mode in which it flies in the direction the controller is pointed.

Due to the goggles, the complete set is relatively expensive at just under 1,400 euros. By comparison, “standard” drones from competitor DJI in the weight class up to 250 grams start at 239 euros. Weighing in at 249 grams, the Antigravity falls into the least regulated class.

Link to the manufacturer: www.antigravity.tech

Just take off?
However, you can’t just take off with a drone. This is regulated across Europe. In Germany, for example, registration with the Federal Aviation Authority (lba-openuav.de) is mandatory for all camera drones. The drone is issued a “license plate” that allows the drone pilot to be identified.

Studying maps is mandatory to avoid flying into no-fly zones. The German Air Traffic Control Authority provides an app called Droniq Maps that includes map data. The map data can also be viewed at maptool-dipul.dfs.de.