Buzz, bump, goal! Drone soccer aims high at CES 2024

Drones hover over midfield during a Drone Soccer Match as it makes its global debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 10, 2024. The high-tech innovative sport was developed in South Korea in 2016, involves two teams of five players competing with drones enveloped in protective wire casings to resemble airborne balls with points scored by manoeuvring the drone through the opposing teams hoop which lights up when a goal is scored. — AFP

LAS VEGAS: A loud whirring sound incites fear that a giant swarm of insects has overtaken Eureka Park, one of the venues for the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But in fact, it’s a group of “soccer drones” made in South Korea.

Five red drones face off against five blue ones, all of them remotely controlled from outside the playing field, to ensure that no one is hurt by an errant flying object.