One year after turning from a major media reporter, the "enthusiastic power" of a man who became a drone racer --Yahoo! News

Professional "Drone Race"

A drone race that has been rapidly growing, mainly in Europe and the United States in the past year.

Many of you may know that the Drone Race World Tournament held in Dubai in March this year has been featured in various media with the total prize of $ 1 million.

In recent years, drone -racing TV broadcasts have begun in the United States, and major companies such as Ford and Nissan Europe have used race drones in promotional videos, and it has begun to be widely recognized as new sports / entertainment.

In Asia, drone -race international competitions are now being held in Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, and Malaysia, and the community is steadily expanding.

Although it has not yet been established as a professional sport, the movements for professional sports are becoming more active, and the number of pilots who dedicated drone races in the future will increase.

Meanwhile, there is a pilot who jumps into the world of drone racing and struggles to promote the spread of drone racing in Japan.

Moto Hosoya, a Japanese drone pilot active in various drone racing international competitions based in Singapore.There are two types of drone racing, and there are track races that compete for speed and freestyle to compete for acrobatics.

Participated in the Freestyle Division at the Drone Race World Congress held in Dubai in March 2016.Hosoya is the first Japanese who participated in the freestyle department of the international tournament.

* The video shows the actual acrobatic flight passed through the qualifying of the Dubai International Tournament.

(Provided by GEN HOSOYA MUSIC: TOBU -HIGHER)

He shows such a pioneer, but only a year ago I first touched the drone.Explore the reasons why amateurs who did not even have simple hovering could participate in the world tournament in a short period of time.(Writer Tokuyuki Oka / Yahoo! News Editorial Department)

A life that looks like a picture of "curious and stiffness"

He explains his personality as "curious and stiffness."

In elementary school, she was unable to stay in her seat and jumped out during class.In junior high school, he was immersed in music and went to school.He wanted to go to high school and wanted to do music, but he became interested in international situation due to the terrorist attacks at the same time in the U.S., worked as an interpreter and translator, took the university entrance examination test, and entered the university to learn international relations.is.

He was also interested in finance due to the Lehman shock, studied financial engineering at a British graduate school, and traveled to Singapore, Asian financial center.It is a career that tells the character of "curious and stiffness".

Eventually, Hosoya's next curiosity turns to "drone".He said he was joining the launch of the media mainly with drones.

"I can't send technology that I have never touched in the media. So I thought I had to experience it myself."

I first touched a small toy drone about a year ago.I couldn't even hover the first operation, and I felt frustrated.However, this has turned on Hosoya's curious switch.Immediately after that, I purchased DJI's Phantom3, which was a hot topic at the time, and started aerial photography.

In the process of aerial photography, he wants to know more about cameras and shooting techniques as well as drone mechanisms.You will be immersed in.

The world's largest drone race.

After work, go to the shop and go into the shop until midnight, make a drone with a look at it.It is said that such days lasted for three months.

On the other hand, the interest in the other aspects of the drone, "Speed" and "acrobatics", has also increased.

Around this time, he began to stimulate his curiosity from Charp (Carlos Petras), one of the US top drone pilots.

A video that has a sense of speed, acrobatic and matches music.It was a freestyle with FPV race drones, which has been gradually gaining popularity in the context of street culture and extreme sports since mid -2015.

When I first saw a charp video, I was shocked, "Why can you do this? It's cool!"Movement that is impossible with a normal aerial drone.As expected, I am driven by a strong urge to do it myself.

Participated in the World Tournament in half a year of drone racer

FPV (First Person View) Lace drone (a camera mounted on a drone can be seen from a first -person perspective), and try to fly like a charp.A series of crashes without going.All the race drones I made at the beginning were wrecked.

"I thought that the amount of practice was important anyway, I went to a nearby park after I took lunch break, find the end of work and time. The drone shops were also in the drone race, so everyone was taken by them.I often went to a parking lot and flew until 3 or 4 am. "

When the days of FPV drones continue to be able to decide the same tricks as their longing charp, Hosoya hears that the Drone Race Tournament will be held in Dubai, and Hosoya competes for acrobatics.I entered.It is a world tournament where famous pilots gather from all over the world.It's been a few months since I first touched the drone for the first time, despite being eager to "want to participate."He thought, "It would be difficult to break through qualifying."

However, if you opened the lid, the qualifying video screening could pass.The expectation and excitement of being able to fly in the same place as the top pilots overseas, including Charp were unprecedented.

"In Dubai, I was disappointed because I couldn't fly as I thought because of the lack of adjustment of the aircraft, but I think it was the harvest that I met the top pilots abroad and felt their enthusiasm.What do you want to do? "

Drone race wants to convey the "heat" to the world of science fiction

What Hosoya felt in Dubai was to tell Japan the excitement of overseas drone racing, and to communicate the Japanese drone race scene overseas.

"Some Japanese experts point out that the situation surrounding Japanese drones is two or three laps than overseas. I feel that it is the same from Singapore.Even if you use the entertainment, I think that there are few people who are enthusiastic about that possibility because the drone is not recognized yet. "

I want to increase the number of people who are enthusiastic about drones in Japan.He wants to convey the world of drone racing with a large impact of video.

"I want to pursue the video expression in freestyle, so I can do various things, so I want to pursue it.

A world of drones that change with a durable momentum while absorbing various technologies.That applies to the race world.

"In the future, the drone connects to the network, and an autonomous flight type equipped with artificial intelligence will appear, racing with humans and freestyles.I'm excited when I think it's

From drone aerial photography to drone racing, and technology ahead of the curiosity of Hosoya Moto does not seem to know.

Motohisa Hosotani

(Hosoya / Gen) Born in 1982.He is influenced by jazz and fusion and proceeds on music.After that, he became a reporter at the Singapore Bureau, a major telecommunications company, after working at simultaneous interpretation and translation, studying abroad in British graduate school, and consulting company.After retiring from the news agency in 2013, he focuses on drones, cyber security, and coverage, research and activities in the field of artificial intelligence.