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This article was published on September 13, 2016

This video of drone surfing might be a look into the future of sports

Story by

Juan Buis

Story by

Juan Buis

Digital Culture Reporter

Juan Buis is TNW's Digital Culture Reporter, and you should click here. Juan Buis is TNW's Digital Culture Reporter, and you should click here.

Since drones have been commercially available, there have been a ton of great uses for them. One of my favorites is the futuristic-sounding drone racing.

Even though they can be the main thing in an activity, it can also be used as an addition to already existing sports. A great example of this is the new hybrid of drone flying and wakeboarding — drone surfing.

drone

In the above video by drone maker Freefly Systems, the combination seems to work great and look really cool. It isn’t clear how the company pulled it off: The clip features the Alta 8 — an $18,000 unit that’s designed to move a payload of up to 9 kg — to pull a surfer over the water like it’s nothing. If this is as real as it looks, it could certainly be a sport that gadget enthusiasts and wakeboarders alike can sink their teeth into.

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Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before this becomes a major event at the Olympics.

We’ve contacted Freefly Systems to learn more about its dronesurfing wizardry and will update this post if there’s a response.