CES 2015: Parrot’s latest drone has a stabilising camera

Drones, like fitness trackers and smartwatches, are all the rage these days, so it makes sense that CES is full of them. Unlike some of the others that are on display, Parrot’s eXom commercial quadcopter has a killer feature: a self-correcting stabilised camera on the front.

We don’t know too much about it just yet, just that the drone has five ultrasonic sensors, can record ‘ultra high-res’ stills, as well as being able to record HD video and thermal data. Other specs, like battery life, camera resolution, and weight are being kept a secret for the time being.

Apparently the drone is primarily designed to be a tool for civil engineers so that they can inspect places that would be hard, or impossible, for humans to do alone. With that in mind it makes sense that the camera would have stabilising features, it also suggests that the quality of the picture is going to be quite high.

It’s more than likely that stabilised drone cameras will be useful to more people than surveyors. I can see it as an incredibly useful tool for thinks like filmmaking, surveillance, scientific research, and photography. I can’t imagine the first wave of them coming cheap though.

We’ve got no word on price or availability just yet, but we’ll let you know if we find out.

This week we’re bringing you all the latest news, videos and gossip from CES 2015 in Las Vegas. Check out the CES 2015 page to keep up to date and subscribe to our YouTube channel to see hands-on news with our editor Holly Brockwell from the show floor.