With more and more drones crowding the airspace, all those spinning blades are a growing danger to people, animals, objects and other drones. Many make use of complex obstacle avoidance algorithms and sensors, while others lock drones in cages or design them to survive the impact.
Docomo has a much simpler idea: get rid of the blades altogether. The new drone is essentially a helium-filled balloon to keep it aloft. A camera mounted on the bottom allows you to take photos and videos, and filled with colorful LEDs. But Docomo's drone has a few other advantages above all: it's much quieter, so there's no sound to spoil the videos, and since it's not wasting that much energy battling gravity with rotating blades, flight times should be considerably extended.
The most intriguing thing, however, is certainly the ultrasonic propulsion system. On both sides of the balloon there are two small ultrasonic modules that produce small vibrations to disturb the air and push the balloon left, right, forward, backward, up or down as needed. Balloon drones have been developed and used before, but some still used propellers, while others are kite / balloon hybrids designed for use outdoors and at higher altitudes. The company plans to commercialize the drone design before March 2022, although there are no words on pricing. It can be seen in action in the video below.