Talk about soaring to new heights.
A wild concept has literally taken flight, allowing people to pilot drones over some of the most beautiful places in the world — from the comfort of their own living rooms.
From South African wildlife reserves to the volcanoes in Iceland to Machu Picchu in Peru and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, a California company called NatureEye will send a remote-controlled, autonomous flying device into the sky for an aerial tour — and hand you the controls.
Users can book a half-hour time slot for just $95 — using their computer keyboards to call the shots with 360-degree control over the drone’s movement and camera, while an on-site guide serves as your local sherpa.
The optics are so sophisticated that they can turn to an infrared mode for better spotting moving wildlife through the animals’ heat signatures.
“The idea is that if you can’t go there, you can at least send an avatar of yourself and have as much control over that experience as you can,” CEO Jonathan Duff told The Post, adding that the pandemic-era founded company was created to show people our beautiful planet while cooped up.
NatureEye began as a team effort, collaborating with local drone pilots over the sites who would be willing to give guided tours of the region. Duff said pilots across the planet are so excited to get involved that the company is pitched a new location about once every two weeks.
Antioch Reserve in South Africa, bustling with zebras, hyenas and buffalo, is one of the most popular spots — originally written in as a suggestion from a local pilot.
Very quickly, NatureEye has become a powerful educational resource for students, as well as armchair travelers.
“When I joined Nature Eye, I thought, ‘This is impossibly cool for kids,’” Duff, of South Africa, said.
“Imagine you’re studying geology or volcanoes, and then you get to go fly from your classroom over a live volcano in Iceland without having to leave and spend a fortune.”
Continuing to appeal to younger generations, NatureEye is also “on the road map” to have their drones work with game controls — and a share of its proceeds go to aid conservation efforts and organizations.
How it works
All that’s required from amateur pilots is a 10-minute crash course on how to use their keyboard as the master control for their craft to take to the skies.
A Post-tested recent flight above Antioch brought to mind drone-level play in “Call of Duty” — with similar controls and visuals.
NatureEye’s friendly pilot on-site will walk you through brief take-off proceedings and just like that, you’re flying the bad boy with some gentle backseat guidance.
Users will immediately feel the excitement as the drone reaches a few hundred feet in the air — a guided map keeps you focused on a particular area — as you begin your personal safari.
And while it takes a moment or two to grasp the controls — and to figure out if you’re adjusting your camera or moving the device itself in 360 degrees of direction and at different altitudes — that’s why a pilot on the ground is there to lend a hand. The ground navigator can also take over controls so that you don’t veer outside the restricted area or careen too low to terrain or wildlife.
They also can help you reset or move the drone so that you instead can focus on spotting and snapping photos of wildlife to be later downloaded, rather than obsessing over the mechanics.
Guides who know the area well will also suggest different spots to fly over that are known exotic animal habitats. In our recent case, the guide warned of a nearby wildfire and reported areas where buffalo had been moving.
Once you get the hang of things, the sky truly is the limit.
When moving around, using the tap of a button to flick on the infrared camera makes spotting animal herds much more feasible — they move fast, after all — and comes quite in handy when peeking over bodies of water.
The inverted visuals helped a reporter spot a family of hippos poking out of a watering hole along with capturing some speeding hyenas and gazelles.
Even if your focus isn’t on finding wildlife, there’s always the simple thrill of speeding along the skies so near to some of nature’s less-seen treasures, spinning the drone around for a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic view that is worth the experience alone.
