Intel shows live demo of collision-avoidance drone maneuvering obstacle course

Intel showed off a cool new drone that is able to detect obstacles and get around them on its own.

The Yuneec Typhoon H with Intel RealSense technology will be available this year, and it will help athletes take better selfies and action videos than you thought were possible. The drone has retractable landing gear, a 4K camera, and a built-in display and controller, said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, during  a keynote speech at the start of the 2016 International CES, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas this week.

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Equipped with the Intel RealSense camera and an Intel CPU, the drone can use collision avoidance technology to detect obstacles and get around them.

“This drone goes anywhere,” Krzanich said. “It has the most advanced collision avoidance system in a consumer drone.”

In a live demo, the drone followed a biker through a fake wooded environment inside the keynote room. It successfully avoided a falling tree and kept on taking live video of the biker.

Intel supports action sports events such as BMX bikers and the X Games, and the drones are part of what Krzanich believes is a technological change that will alter sports forever. Intel is partnering with ESPN to show the power of analytics and measurement equipment for extreme sports athletes. And it is partnering with Red Bull Media House on another sports-related video project. The company is gathering all of the tech it needs to measure how we perform sports and how we can get better.

“This will change sports, how they are judged, and even how people like you and I will improve our own skills,” Krzanich said.