Drones programmed for light painting in the sky

What do you get when you put LEDs on a system of drones and then program them to fly in formation? Spaxels from the Ars Electronic Futurelab.

Spaxels are quadcopters equipped with a programmable LED system. They comprise a swarm that’s able to fly in formation and “draw” dynamic three-dimensional figures in the night sky. The Ars Electronica Futurelab is the sole player in this field, the only one capable of working with aesthetic forms of expression that were previously possible only on a computer and, via spaxels, translating them into the real world of a three-dimensional airspace.

See the system in action in the video below. Impressive.

[via Creative Applications]