When bringing up the topic of drones, for most people familiar with them, the images of predator and reaper aircraft, the ones used by the United States in military operations, will pop up in their minds. Along with those images, given recent revelations from Amazon a few weeks ago, images of small aircraft delivering packages may also appear. Artist Ruben Pater wants to let the public know, however, that there is a much broader swath of unmanned aircraft, in existence now and to come, that should be made aware of.
Born out of a graphic design masters project, Pater has come up with the “Drone Survival Guide”, an aluminum foil poster that conjures up memories of “plane-spotting kits and cards” from World War II. Warning the broader public that “robotic birds will become commonplace in the near future,” with “as many as 30,000 drones” being flown over U.S. soil alone, he created the guide to allow us and future generations to be familiarized with these machines and the “changing technological environment” that they bring with them.
The poster, on one side, depicts the drones, both presently in use and to be used in the near future, all shown in scale and listing nationality and function (for military use or surveillance). On the other side, it gives tips on how one can minimize their chances of being detected or struck by one of these aircrafts. The artist himself does not view this as particularly functional, seeing as once an unmanned aircraft spots a target, there’s little chance that the target can get away. But it all goes back to a point made earlier: the public needs to be made aware of the robotic birds that will increasingly become a major part of their future.
The “Drone Survival Guide”: http://www.dronesurvivalguide.org/
An article on the guide by The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/20/5230012/the-drone-survival-identification-guide
– Danny “Lucius” Lundy
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