Intel’s Drones Display Olympic Rings and Steal the Show in Pyeongchang

The opening ceremony of Olympics has always been a breathtaking event, with something new and spectacular every year. This year at the winter Olympics, the drones was the show stealer.

The juggernaut of chips- Intel was responsible for the show’s amazing drone Olympic formation.

In Pyeongchang, a record-setting performance of 1,218 Shooting Star drones, flew in sync to create huge light-up images of Olympic sports and the iconic Olympic rings in the sky.

At the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, a Guinness World Record for the most unmanned drones flown simultaneously was created.

The 1,218-drone light show in South Korea was pre-recorded. Still, 300 of them made a live appearance at the opening ceremony, forming the shape of the Olympic rings.

"It's in essence technology meeting art," says Anil Nanduri, general manager of Intel's drone group.

Last year the same drones flew at Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show. Intel's Shooting Star platform enables a legion of foot-long, eight ounces, plastic and foam quadcopters to fly in sync, swooping and swirling along an animator's prescribed path.

"In order to create a real and lifelike version of the snowboarder with more than 1,200 drones, our animation team used a photo of a real snowboarder in action to get the perfect outline and shape in the sky," says Natalie Cheung, Intel's general manager of drone light shows.