Can You See Where This is Going?

The latest consumer-grade drones are a big hit at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015 in Las Vegas.  The technology behind the latest drones has come a long way.  Not only are they dead easy to fly and self-stabilizing but one of this year's offerings, the Airdog, can even track you.



It's being pitched as a breakthrough in video of sporting events, such as motorsports, and the demonstrations are impressive.  What's less impressive are the alternative applications this technology suggests.

A drone that can autonomously follow an individual at speeds upwards of 40 mph can probably be adapted to do other things such as harassing or even attacking the subject being pursued.  This is akin to military-grade technology in a very difficult to regulate consumer product.

The thing is this Genie is decidedly out of the bottle and, as the range of today's consumer drones steadily increases, it won't take long for some nasty customers to figure out any number of ulterior purposes for it.