Amazon, Google, and Facebook have all been associated with drone-based projects in recent years. Amazon and Google (or is it Alphabet) have delivery drone programs in place, and Facebook is utilizing drones to improve Internet access.
Now, Twitter has applied for a drone-related patent (via The Verge/CNBC).
The URL for the application doesn’t appear to be working at the time of this writing, but The Verge explains:
The company has applied for a patent, which became available last week, for a drone capable of taking photos and videos and transmitting them through users’ Twitter accounts. Of course, applying for the patent doesn’t necessarily mean Twitter plans on building a drone. However, it could be laying a foundation for a Twitter-controlled UAV.
For instance, Twitter mentions a way to use likes, retweets, and replies to control the drone’s direction or what it ends up recording or photographing. Twitter also mentions telepresence and live video interview capabilities. All of this sounds pretty outlandish, from both a technical and safety standpoint. Still, it’s an ambitious concept no other company is publicly considering at the moment.
This might be going a little too far.
In October, Google, Amazon, Best Buy, GoPro, and Walmart joined the UAS Task Force for drone registration.
Image via Wikimedia Commons