PS: So this isn’t necessarily something that the NFL, which already has a used infrastructure, would use?

RB: I don’t see it being implemented in NFL stadiums where they already have a CableCam system in place, because it’s not practical. But for users who don’t have a CableCam system, like a high school football team that wants to get CableCam-style views but can’t install a CableCam system in their practice field, that sort of thing.

PS: So you make a kit, someone buys the kit and wants to use it. Who’s the pilot? Let’s say, in a high school or college game.

RB: We’re just now starting to get involved in high school football, in terms of the mainstream sports. If you’ve got someone in a university, I would think they’d pull somebody from a journalism department or an engineering department. That would be a smart move, if you have those resources internally. If you’re a small organization like a high school football team, then it would probably have to be a coach or a student manager. But having the person who’s had some training, or maybe has some background in RC helicopter flight, that’s just generally helpful.

PS: What’s training like? Most people are probably amateurs, even if you get them from a school. How long does it take before someone is comfortable doing it, and how do they know they’re comfortable flying it around a stadium?

RB: One of the things we suggest for our customers who are flying it in situations like that is to get a small, indoor microcopter—fly indoors, crash into your wall or your couch or whatever. In terms of training, the internet’s a great resource, but for our clients we also put out a flight portal on our website. On there is flight training and videos on how to change an arm if you snap an arm and that sort of thing. We’re trying to see them all the way through the process.

We also do training for companies like an architecture firm, or a high school football team or an archaeological excavation, where we’ll come out to them or they’ll come out to us and we’ll put them through a 12-hour training program.

PS: Let’s talk about the legal issues. This week, a judge ruled that the FAA doesn’t necessarily have jurisdiction over commercial use of drones. Are people that you’re going to and seeing about this concerned that they don’t know what the status of this will be in a year?

RB: I don’t know if they’re concerned they won’t be able to use it, I think they’re waiting to see howthey can use it. The industry is booming. It’s gone from something very small to a noticeable component to the tech marketplace. It will certainly be addressed. People aren’t worried about if it will be used, but using it properly—and they want to see other companies and organizations using it before they do.

As the technology progress, it’ll be safer. Not that it isn’t safe already, but there’s a lot of room for operator error. The industry has to keep progressing, but it’ll add more clients and add more components to the safety aspect as time goes on. That decision, I’m sure everyone in the industry was happy about that, but it’ll have to be addressed. There’s no getting around that. And I’m all for some sort of training or certification. Nobody wants to see someone get hurt.

PS: Are there liability issues in sports? If you’re a manufacturer and you send it to someone and it goes into the crowd, do you need to get waivers? Something else?

RB: It’s sort of that gray area. It depends on who your lawyers are, and what your state’s legal situation is. That’s why I don’t think it’ll be adopted at NFL games—one because they already have mobile CableCams, two because nobody wants to be that organization. But I think there are other applications. It doesn’t have to be a high-crowd situation. There are certainly broadcast applications that are safe.

PS: That’s another question. Is this something where people will take it into the film room and say, “This is what we need to do better next time,” or is it more for broadcasting applications?

RB: I think it’s both. In the PAC 12 they’ve been using it, and there are major universities around the country that are starting to adopt it. For practice film, they might be using it for tracking shots, where they want to follow a player that you couldn’t get with a fixed position. Broadcasting is going to be huge, just because the shot you get with a CableCam will be much cheaper with one of these things, and you can take it to crazy places, where you’d be limited with a CableCam.

PS: How far do you see this going? Will it be used in lots of mainstream sports?

RB: Football is an interesting one, and doing practice film is an interesting application; broadcast is an interesting application. Golf, I could totally see broadcasting applications for. Racing, for sure. Both motor vehicles and Tour de France, that sort of thing. Soccer, MLS—yachting was one I spoke to a gentleman about. Getting dynamic shots of sports that sometimes don’t have the budget to get those shots within their means? I think it’s definitely going to help out with that.