Sep 8, 2017: NTT DOCOMO, INC., in a continuing quest to create innovative new business, has developed a spherical drone display–an unmanned aerial vehicle that displays LED images on an omnidirectional spherical screen while in flight – which DOCOMO believes to be a world first (as of April 16, 2017).
Equipping a drone with a spherical display had proved difficult until now due to challenges such as the display interfering with the airflow of the drone’s propellers as well as the added weight of the display. However, DOCOMO’s solution uses a largely hollow display that is exceptionally lightweight and allows air to flow through it, yet it still achieves the illusion of a solid display by creating an afterimage effect with rapidly spinning LEDs.
Under the “docomo Drone Project,” DOCOMO is exploring ways to combine aerial mobility and communications mobility in innovative solutions for logistics, messaging, entertainment and other fields.