European and North American drone show experts partner to advance outdoor WOW-effect solutions for ski resorts

(Riga, Berne, Oakland) – Drone Show Software by SPH Engineering, a Riga-based UgCS software developer and integration services provider for unmanned aerial systems, as well as Swiss Drone Show, a European event agency focused on drone show solutions, and Pinnacle Festivals, a leading US producer of theme-based immersive event experiences, has announced an international partnership to develop drone-based
outdoor light show solutions customized to ski resorts. The aim is to advance drone show WOW-applications during wintertime, including that manageable high in the mountains and in low temperatures.

Drone shows are a fresh and highly demanded form of entertainment, combining technology and art. With live events being limited during the worldwide pandemic of 2020, viewing shows from far away is becoming more popular. As such, the drone show industry turns out to be one of the most promising solution providers for outdoor events in the new normal.

“SPH Engineering’s Drone Show Software team has been providing the only commercially available software to manage outdoor light shows controlling up to hundreds of drones since 2017. We are happy to make this step forward and bring together global experts for knowledge, creativity and technology exchange and share our lessons learnt in various show scenarios,”

Alexey Dobrovolsky, SPH Engineering’s CTO, comments.

“The 1,000+ drone show prerecorded high in the mountains for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics demonstrated that drones could do the job in low temperatures possible. Last year Swiss Drone Show accepted the challenge of St. Moritz ski resort in Switzerland to make a festive 100-drone light show and wish a Happy New Year to resort visitors in an innovative way. The creative part included several local stories. From the tech perspective, we needed to find a way to adjust batteries to cold temperature’, Marc Loosli, CTO & Co-Founder, Swiss Drone Show, explains.

“We are proud that the ski resort is happy with the experience and would like to make another drone show as the COVID-19 rules complaints event to celebrate New Year 2021.”

“Pinnacle Festivals is excited about the opportunity to light up the night sky of ski resorts. We are grateful to our European partners who have agreed to advise us on the best winter drone show practices to make sure that drone show as a WOW-solution would be well-performed keeping in mind height and temperature limitations. A drone show is a very flexible event element: it can be performed as a single proper show, or integrated into any night show being mixed with fireworks, laser, sound and music, or be considered as a small WOW-effect performance. Not long ago we developed a so-called ‘3 drone demo’ suitcase. This unique way of drone show equipment packaging enables fast, easy and safe delivery of everything needed for small trial activities in any US location,’ John Eric Henry, Head of Pinnacle Festivals, explains.

About SPH Engineering / DroneShowSoftware

Drone Show Software (DroneShowSoftware.com) allows anyone with drones, ambition and a choreographer to create mind-blowing drone shows. In addition to excitement and novelty, the benefits of drone shows include easy scalability, integrability with other show elements and the possibility to maintain social distancing. SPH Engineering (sph-engineering.com) is the world’s premier UgCS software developer and integration services provider for unmanned aerial systems.

Founded in 2013 in Latvia, the company has created a rich global customer network while over 45% of customers are located in North America.

In addition to Drone Show Software, its developed UgCS, UgCS CC, UgCS Mapper, ATLAS and Industrial Integration Solutions for UAV with Echo Sounders, Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR), Methane detectors, and Magnetometers, enriched with radar/laser altimeters, are applied across a wide range of industries worldwide.

About Swiss Drone Show

Swiss Drone Show AG (www.SwissDroneShow.com) is an autonomously flown outdoor drone fleet. Our drones are fast, dynamic and equipped with super bright RGB LED lights. Our drones are unique in Europe and were specially designed as light show drones. The swarm is operated via a ground station. Our swarm of drones enriches events of all kinds with impressive 3D images, tailor-made choreographies and breathtaking WOW moments. SWISS DRONE SHOW is your partner to plan and execute an outdoor drone show in Europe, especially in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The SDS team consists of proven specialists from Switzerland and other European countries.

About Pinnacle Festivals

At Pinnacle Festivals (www.pinnaclefestivals.com), it is our vision to be the leading producers of theme-based immersive event experiences that create a positive impact on people, animals, and the planet. Our mission is, among others, to bring disparate communities together through the magic of a shared community experience, to evoke a common shared experience of joy by creating imaginative and creative events and to protect the environment and natural resources by creating events that reflect sustainability through zero-waste models and use of renewable energy.