Korea's swarm drone solution leader Uvify envisions flying UAM

[Photo by Hyundai Motor Group]

South Korean drone startup Uvify which has come to dominate the global skies with overwhelming drone swarm technology after managing over 60 light shows across the world has eyes on launching unmanned aerial vehicle for passengers.

“I was confident we could do better while watching the drone show at the 2018 Winter Olympics,” said Lim Hyon, CEO and co-founder of Uvify who had been at the time working on racing drones, in an interview with the Maeil Business Newspaper.

A year later, his company has been sought by the presidential office, Hyundai Motor and Chanel to light up their events.

Uvify’s swarm drone are powered by artificial intelligence, enabling as many as LED-mounted 1,000 drones to fly at the same time to form and light up the sky extravaganza.

The company’s AI technology is so meticulous that it needs one or two rehearsals before the main showcase, according to Lim.

Over last two years. Uvify has sold 5,000 light show drones and software packages to 40 performance agencies from 20 different countries. Uvify is the dominant player in the world since its competitor in the technology Intel does not sell its swarm drone solution.

Uvify’s schedule has been fully booked for year-end and new year events.

“Drone shows have gained popularity in the Covid-19 era where people are unable to get together because they can be viewed from a distance. There are also many bookings for drone shows during New Year’s and other holidays because large corporations are viewing drone shows as an important part of outdoor marketing,” said Lim.

Its drone technology has also gained strategic value.

Uvify won the autonomous driving competition that was held by the Ministry of Defense in 2021 and has been consigned with a military project.

Its drone scored high for recognizing the number of people, the location, obstacles, and specific targets while carrying out various missions in a 50m passageway with only entrances and exits.

“Drones can detect a terrorist situation beforehand and form strategies that will minimize the number of people that are injured, much like they do in Sci-Fi or war movies. There are endless possibilities in what drones can do,” said Lim.

The ultimate goal of Uvify is to develop unmanned Urban Air Traffic (UAM) to carry passengers.

“Our short term goal is to strengthen and optimize the technology of drone shows and increase our expertise to combine all necessary equipment such as drones, software, and walkie-talkies for drone shows in a single package. In the long-term we hope to advance our technology to the UAM level and carry people in autonomous drones,” said Lim.

[ㄏ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]