Liftoff! Drone Light Shows Take to the Sky
With drone light shows rising in popularity, meet the director of Sky Elements Hawai‘i who produces these shows locally.
While driving to Hawai‘i Kai recently, I was puzzled by colorful lights shaped as a butterfly hovering over a building across Maunalua Bay. I pulled over to get a better look. Slowly, each dot of light rearranged itself into another image, then another, as a crowd of onlookers grew. Turns out we were witnessing the first drone light show by Sky Elements Hawai‘i, a partner of Texas-based Sky Elements Drones, which puts on shows across the nation.
Photo: Katrina Valcourt
Tyler Hiranaka, director of Sky Elements Hawai‘i, remembers nearly a decade ago telling parents and teachers of kids in a local robotics program that the drone industry was going to grow exponentially. Now, some of his former students, who learned how to build, fly and race drones as a hobby, are helping to produce his professional shows.
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“It’s just like a flying marching band,” he says. “There’s a lot of time that goes into the production of storytelling,” from writing a storyboard to adding music. And while Hiranaka doesn’t see drone light shows replacing fireworks anytime soon, there are plenty of events and opportunities to showcase this sparkling form of entertainment without chemical or noise pollution.
Photo: Gary Singleton, Courtesy of Sky Elements Hawai‘i
skyelementsdrones.com, @skyelementshi
