The paper airplane may be one of the simplest forms of man-made flight, but not for PowerUp, the company that turns these elementary vehicles into remote-controlled machines. PowerUp has previously run successful Kickstarter campaigns, which have brought its models to life. So it should be no surprise that PowerUp is going back to Kickstarter to fund its newest plane, the PowerUp FPV.
PowerUp's newest creation isn't just another motorized piece of paper. PowerUp has teamed with Parrot to create a paper airplane drone, fully equipped with its own motor and camera. The "FPV" probably stands for "first person view" because that's the best way to describe what this plane does. By attaching a fully rotating wide-view camera to the top of the plane, PowerUp gives the ability to live stream in-flight video to the user's smartphone. And what better way to experience this flight simulation than through VR? When the plane and it's app are used in conjunction with Google Cardboard or any other smartphone-powered VR headset, you not only have the ability to view the video feed, you can also control the plane by moving your head. Or if looking around to control a drone makes you dizzy, you can always use the PowerUp's in-app gamepad.
The PowerUp FPV utilizes some of the most popular consumer tech of the year (VR and drones), but the way it uses such basic materials goes to show just how far this technology has come. Maybe some day soon we'll all have our own paper drone and cardboard VR headset. The PowerUp FPV lands on Kickstarter this November, for more information visit the company's website.
