Finally a company has created a form of transportation that is more inherently terrifying than a self-driving car.
The Ehang 184 is, as far as we can tell, the world’s first drone that can successfully (according to its creator) carry a human, with it reportedly able to fly a lone passenger to a destination up to 10 miles away, autonomously.
Appearing on the CES 2016 show floor in Las Vegas, the 184 is impressive, if utterly horrifying to imagine yourself actually using it. With passengers only able to tell the drone to take off, pause its flight and land, there is minimal control given to those brave enough to take flight in it, though Ehang has tried to offset the anxiety attacks that will inevitably be suffered by its passengers by introducing a number of distractions, including an air conditioning, a reading light (in case you wanted to fly this thing in the dark, you maniac) and a 4G connection. This was the snippet of information that most intrigued me – who could possibly bring themselves to check Twitter whilst sitting in a self-flying drone?
The single-seat quadcopter’s limited commands are given to it by the user via an app, and Ehang are reportedly planning to install a low-altitude flight command center in order to monitor all the consumer models of the 184 that are flying around in 2016, its projected consumer launch date. However, with drone safety continuing to be a hot topic (the US government enforced new drone registrations last year after more than 100 sightings or “close calls” were reported by airplane pilots), it seems unlikely that Ehang’s 184 would be given the go-ahead given the inherent risks it proposes.
While Ehang assured consumers that the 184 is a safe method of transportation and that the company is staging frequent tests, the video showing these demos of the drone feature it flying around in an unpopulated field without a human actually sitting aboard it. With the drone also remaining completely stationary at CES, it seems a little optimistic to suggest that it’ll even be able to go to market in 2016, let alone find anyone willing to fly it. When it eventually released, Ehang state that it will be available for between $200,000 – $300,000.
Check it out in the video below:
