It”™s a bird. It”™s a plane. It”™s a flying camera?
For businesses looking to get a new perspective for their marketing, one Wilton-based company suggests taking the bird”™s-eye view.
Vidifly, launched by software developer and marketing firm Metabulus L.L.C., is a new aerial video service that uses miniature drone helicopters to take video and photos of properties and events.
“It”™s a very different perspective than a ground-based shot,” said Metabulus co-founder Adam Pemberton. “You can tell immediately how a property or area is laid out because you can see much more.”
In the past, aerial photos might have required expensive helicopter rides to produce images not unlike those on Google Maps, Pemberton said.
But now that the technology for remote-controlled helicopters out of the hobby industry has become more advanced and inexpensive, individuals can take closer, high-definition videos and photos at a fraction of the price, he said.
The term drone has come to describe an unmanned, remote-controlled military aircraft, but has increasingly been used to describe smaller unmanned aerial vehicles and remote-controlled aircraft such as the ones Vidifly uses.
Vidifly”™s drones are about three to four feet in diameter and can fly about a half mile away from their remote controllers. Though flight control software has improved dramatically in terms of stability, Vidifly”™s drones still require frequent battery changes about every six minutes.
The base rate for a Vidifly video is $1,500 for four hours of shooting with aerial stills starting at $500 each.
Pemberton said he believes there”™s a big market for aerial videos and photos for promotional materials, especially in the real estate industry.
He said he”™s seen interest from real estate agents, property owners and event managers from across the Northeast, but is looking to increase its business concentration in Fairfield County and expand from there.
“An aerial video is selling in a way you couldn”™t before,” Pemberton said. “It”™s a compelling style of photo that is now available to any business that wants it.”
A bird”™s eye view of a residential property for sale or a convention center looking to hold more events is a new and fresh way of selling, he said. In the next couple of years he expects to see much more aerial video competition from competing marketing firms, he said. Additionally Pemberton said he thinks the commercial market for drones is on the edge of a massive expansion, targeting kids and even occasional travelers on vacation.
“I believe that it”™s going to grow and become much more widely used,” he said. “There”™s not anything like the kind of video these aircraft get.”
