The first time I ever flew a drone was during my second combat deployment in Iraq. Now some  of you may be imagining some crazy plane with missiles and machine gun attachments on it, at least that’s where my imagination went when Sergeant First Class Whitehorn first told me that I would be replacing his soldier who had gotten injured the week prior.

Instead it looked like a toy airplane made mostly out of foam with a camera mounted on it. One man would throw the drone like a paper airplane, and just like that it would take off. The next person would monitor the video footage on the laptop and set the flight pattern the drone would take. The Raven as it was called, would then fly around for 20 minutes or so, then returned for a battery replacement. It was designed to drop to the ground and break into smaller pieces, I would reassemble it, replace the battery and send it on its way again.

Every time I threw it into the air I would wonder about the future of this technology. How we would adapt it to our everyday life. Now there are obvious things we will use them for. We already use them for video and in the years to come we will be getting our packages and food delivered, and even our policing will be done, partly by drones.  it’s not hard to imagine that drones will be as important to us as our smartphones.

But then there’s the pop culture element to them. I’m sure we will one day have drones that look like golden halos hovering over our heads. It’ll be the latest fashion trend, with Taylor Swift wearing one at concerts and music videos Rappers, athletes and movie stars wearing several at a time. I  imagine Lil Wayne wearing three Halos, one on top of another, the top one slanted ever so slightly to give off that rebel vibe. Or Kanye west  wearing a diamond-encrusted halo drone. Rapping about his three halos like Nelly did about air force ones.

Will we one day  be able to don eyewear that lets us experience first-hand flying through the clouds like Bran watching through the eyes of a raven? Will it be irresponsible for parents to send their kids to school without an armed drone of their own to keep them safe? Will there be Uber-like services, where you can rent an armed drone for self-defense if you’re in a tough neighborhood? Imagine getting stranded somewhere dangerous, and activating an app that will send an armed drone to escort you out.

Or what about tiny little homing missile type drones for mosquitoes? It would be a dream come true to see the invention of little homing missiles or patrol bots for bugs. It could be like a cat replacement for your home.

What about drone hunters? People who will shoot down package-carrying drones to claim their bounty like modern-day stagecoach robbers?

I’m sure all this will be reality some day. Anyway, enjoy the photos, see you next time.

Hey let me know what you guys think. I love to talk robot philosophy and photography and such.