A recent patent from Sony shows the company is at least dabbling with the idea of entering the drone industry. The world's third-largest manufacturer of cameras has quietly been working on a 'flying camera' drone.
Sony Alpha Rumors first discovered a patent for the drone in October 2018. More recently, Sony submitted another patent (US 20200036901A1), with more details, on October 8, 2019, which was published this past January.
The 'flying camera' drone looks like it will be compact, foldable and give users the ability to zoom in on subjects. It also features Sony's 'Eye-AF' technology found in its Alpha line of cameras. Below are a few more illustrations depicting its look and functionality.
Here is what the drone looks like when folded down:
The cover, which detaches from the drone, is a touchscreen device used to control it:
Figure 29 of the patent illustrates how you can zoom in and out on a subject:
The updated patent reveals that the drone will also boast gesture control features:
A bigger drone is also planned and this is what it will look like:
Being this is a patent, there's no telling how serious Sony is at this time regarding potentially entering the drone market, but it's an interesting development nonetheless. The 50-page patent filing can be viewed on Scribd.
. dpreview.com2020-2-5 21:53