Dubai, one of the world's most progressive cities, has announced its plans for passenger drone technologies. As per an announcement made at the World Government Summit, passenger drones will start regular operations in the city from July. The model called eHang 184 has already had its test flights and this drone can carry a single passenger who weighs up to 220 pounds.
According to BBC, this passenger drone can fly for as long as 30 minutes. As for the drone controls, the source says that the passenger can use a touch screen to choose a destination. Apart from that, no other controls can be accessed within the said aircraft. It's worth noting that the passenger drone is auto-piloted by a command center in the city.
As for the drone's flying capacity, it was said that it has a speed of 100 miles per hour and it can fly up to 31 miles on a single charge. It has also been pointed out that this new drone isn't only a model. It has actually been experimented with within Dubai's skies.
Nevertheless, as per Engadget, it's still unclear whether any of the experimental flights actually boarded a real person inside it, although of course, it's still worth mentioning that Dubai will have the bragging rights as the first city to regularly operate such vehicles. The eHang 184 drone made an appearance in CES 2016 event and the current model shows some slight upgrades in terms of specs.
So far, drone technologies have gotten quite far over the years. In fact, more and more drones are getting launched year after year and they come with features and specs that are way too serious for them to still be considered as "flying toys". Drones have been used in photography, videography and in many other industry-specific purposes that different companies have taken advantage of. Drone technology has evolved and improved quite rapidly as time pass by and Dubai's passenger drone is probably one of the most aspiring technologies of them all.
