Man experiences uncanny deja vu of flying dream

Drones have been used for filming and for looking down at the earth from above for a few years. As technology advances, they become better at providing a view that was once impossible without great expense. The world is beautiful when seen from above and amateur videographers are now able to explore and record almost everything.

A recent advance is shown here with footage from a DJI Avata. It's a small and affordable quad copter that flies like an airplane, hovers like a helicopter, and records in ultra high definition. What's even more amazing is that the operator wears virtual reality goggles that show a crystal clear display of everything the drone sees as it flies.

The Avata tilts, dives, climbs, and zooms over the terrain, giving the pilot the sensation that they are in full flight instead of merely watching a screen. The experience is so real that the operator often needs to sit down to avoid falling over during the flight.

The motion controller on this drone is held like a joystick and tilted to make the drone bank, climb, or dive. A trigger throttle controls the speed of the drone which reaches exhilarating 55km/h (34mph). The drone is so responsive that it can be flown inches from the ground and through tight spaces.

As this drone owner took his first flight with the tiny machine, he started out slowly over a very quiet road near his home. What he didn't realize is that he was about to have an extreme deja-vu experience. For years, he had dreamed of flight, a very common dream for many people. But the surprising part is that he accidentally began his test flight in a setting that was much like his recurring dream. And the experience as he began to lift the drone into the air was eerily similar to the way the dream unfolded. And it was as close to the feeling of true flight as anyone can experience while their feet are still on the ground.

Footage of flights in the days that followed give us the same chance to see what the operator sees as they fly this drone. This is how the world would look if you could fly like a bird.