The Rook: Remote-Controlled Drone For Indoors

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Ever been away from home and just had to check that everything is a-ok back at the fortress? What about that one corner that in no imaginable scenario would be covered by a camera, but would hide a burglar so well? Or maybe the dog went out of view from the doggy-cam, and you only want to make sure it hasn’t run away from the house entirely? Well, drone startup Eighty Nine Robotics has the answer for your needs.

Eighty Nine’s Rook was created by engineers at Northwestern University who realised a significant gap in the current offerings of drone manufacturers: no amateur-grade drones can be controlled remotely.

To solve this, the Rook connects to your home WiFi network and you can fly the little machine from anywhere on the face of the planet. You could be exiting a business meeting in Hong Kong, or just laying down for a nap in San Francisco, and you can check up on your pets, family, or valuables quickly and easily.

To make flying the Rook remotely safe, Eighty Nine dispenses with traditional manual controls, instead opting for an intuitive interface specially designed for ease of use. Until the Rook lands in the hands of many users we probably won’t know how safe it really is, but the “tap and swipe” interface certainly looks up to the job.

For now, limited pre-orders go for just $99, but the price is expected to rise when the Rook goes to retail. For this price you’ll get the basic package that only allows you to stream video, but Eighty Nine plans to release premium plans some time in the future. Those will include features like multi-user access, security analytics, triggered and pre-set routines, and more.