Amazon Patents Voice Controlled, Pocket Sized Drone
Amazon have just won the patent to produce a pocket-sized drone that reacts to voice commands. The company have been investigating drone technology as a method of expediating delivery – now they're looking at targetting the home market. According to Geek Wire, the mini Amazon drones are going to come armed with cameras and microphones, feeding back info to an app – presumably accessed through a users phone.
The company have mooted all sorts of uses for these new eye-in-the-skies, from helping to find your car to aiding police surveillence (umm, thanks?). We can't help notice that they haven't included 'scouting out a house you're going to rob' but we're guessing that's because no one would think to do that.
Here's a picture of how an coppoer with a drone might look. We feel safer already.
What the increase in personal drones – and the potential for increased surveillence both by and of citizens- means for our society remains to be seen. At the very least, expect drone legislation to drop as soon as these tiny robotic familiars become as popular as phones.