Overview
- Roughly two dozen first-person-view drones are being used across outdoor venues in the first large-scale Olympic deployment of the technology.
- Human pilots wearing VR goggles fly the units with spotters, and several pilots have sport-specific backgrounds that inform shot selection.
- OBS says drones were crash-tested and, by rule, stay behind and not above athletes with competitor consent to reduce risk and distraction.
- Viewers and some athletes have noted audible whirring and occasional closeness, and some find the fast-moving footage disorienting.
- The lightweight rigs are reported around 250 grams and can exceed 100 mph, but cold-weather battery swaps require pit crews between runs, as NBC and OBS evaluate future uses.