A fleet of 1,200 Intel Shooting Star drones took flight to illuminate the Opening Ceremony, creating mesmerizing, volumetric formations - like a dove, a snowboarder grabbing air, and finally ending with the iconic Olympic Rings. Post-ceremony, smaller light shows decorated a half-dozen nightly medal ceremonies throughout the games, culminating with a grand finale flight during the Closing Ceremony featuring the 2018 mascot, Soohorang, and the PyeongChang 2018 logo.

The Olympics is the most-watched sporting event globally - an experience followed by 92 participating countries and millions of spectators around the world. There were high expectations for an impressive Opening Ceremony, especially one taking place in a technologically advanced country such as South Korea. Intel helped deliver that with a visually stunning performance that broke all language and cultural barriers.

Not since the days of skywriting and fireworks has the sky been reimagined as a creative canvas. Drone light shows are highly orchestrated aerial animations that do what stationary screens can’t. Every single one of the more than 1,200 drones worked in concert, forming volumetric animations in the night sky set against the beautiful winter landscape.

Each lightweight drone is equipped with LEDs capable of emitting 4 billion color combinations. Geographic landscapes are reconstructed in Autodesk to render and visualize the design and scale of animations against target topography. The drones are controlled by a single pilot using Intel’s proprietary flight-planning software.

Multiple tests and shoots were completed over eleven nights to complete all animations. Harsh weather conditions impacted battery life and high winds grounded flight attempts, but the Intel Drone Team persevered to deliver an innovative entertainment experience, setting a Guinness World Record in the process.