Eye in the Sky

[Anchor Lead]

In the summer, accidents can often arise on packed the popular beaches of Korea. A new drone technology has been developed in which unmanned aerial vehicles inspect public safety in real time and even assist in rescue operations. The technology may also be deployed on disaster sites down the road.

[Pkg]

On this beach in Incheon city, a reconnaissance drone takes off. The view of the beach seen from the drone appears in real time on a monitor inside a control vehicle. When the drone-filmed image shows a person drowning in water, another drone designed exclusively for rescue missions immediately flies to the site and drops a tube. A 119 rescue squad then approaches the scene and rescues the victim. This immediate response technology involves a specially designed drone equipped with a real-time LTE image monitoring system.

[Soundbite] Sin Deok-mun(SK Telecom) : "By using an LTE network, clear, high definition imagery can be transmitted and received in real time anywhere, anytime, regardless of the drone's location."

The drone images are also simultaneously transmitted to the smartphones of rescue officers, which helps to save time during the critical 'golden time' window.

[Soundbite] Lee Eun-soo(Rescue Squad, Airport Fire Service) : "It's expected to extend the golden time window as rescue officers approach the accident site."

Real-time reconnaissance drones can also be used to monitor mountain fires using thermal cameras, or assist in rescue operations at disaster sites that are difficult to access. The use of drones combined with the latest communications technology is highly anticipated at accident sites where every second matters.