Until recently, nobody could have envisioned all the amazing, new uses for drones. In the last year, the global market revenue for drones surged 35.5% to roughly $4.5 billion, according to Gartner. The value is forecast to reach almost 30 billion by 2021. This growing market potential is staggering. Drones were first used for primarily for military purposes. Before this past decade, news of drone use was primarily part of the war machine of many nations - they were utilized for their precision air strikes. Until recently, nobody could have imagined the amazing, new uses for drones such as high-end aerial photography and videography, delivery, healthcare...and much more. However, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved drones for personal and professional use by civilians, drones have risen to be one of the most successful products of this decade.

Different companies use drones for different purposes. Their use has been documented in healthcare, personal, and even assisting during disasters in some places. Additional scenarios where drones could be used are quite limitless. For example, in the video below, the first 2 minutes detail a drone's potential use in an emergency medical situation. 

 In this article, we'll cover the amazing things drones can do as well as where drones could be seen flying and assisting us in the near future.

Drones In Homes and For Other Personal Uses

Besides capturing amazing photography and video, drones have a variety of other personal uses. Drone can be used during exercise - running, for example, especially for an athlete working out on his/her own. There is already a drone planned by Sony which can make your running routine a little more interesting by working as your companion/coach. Drones can be used for walking a pet, and a DJI drone will soon be available that's able to do this type of work. It would be of great assistance to persons with disabilities. They can still enjoy the company of their beloved pets and be able to give them much needed exercise. Drones are even being used for finding missing pets. On a more sports-centric level, drones can volley a ball for tennis practice. They can also play catch with you. Coffee fans, rejoice! IBM is even planning a drone that can bring coffee to us as needed. Finally, there is a smart home drone powered by Alexa which can fly to you whenever you call it. It can even perform a certain number of household chores.

Drones in Defense & Law Enforcement

Drones have for defense for a long time, and over these years the role of drones has greatly changed and evolved. Earlier, they were just used for precision bomb dropping, but now that UAVs are smaller, they can help with ground-level military operations. Besides military operations, they are also being used for surveillance purposes. Dubai Police are using them for traffic monitoring and Boston Police are already fighting crime with them. Further, Hong Kong Police are also using DJI’s thermal drones for fighting against criminal activity. Using the infrared night vision, drones can help find a suspect in hiding.

Drones in Healthcare

Delivery is the best and common use of drones. Earlier in this article, a video showed a drone used in a hypothetical emergency healthcare situation to deliver a defibrillator to a patient in need. With their fast & accurate flying, drones can also reach remote or disaster areas quickly. That’s why, in the medical industry, drones are used for:

• Carrying first-aid kits, medicines, antibodies and more to disaster areas

• Blood bag deliveries to and from hospitals

• Tracking mosquitoes that spread Zika virus - a huge help to scientists

Drones In Other Industries

When companies began testing drone delivery, many were against it. Some people still are, but that hasn’t stopped Amazon and Domino's Pizza from using drones from delivering their goods. How about a ride in a flying taxi? It sounds like science fiction, but the “drone taxi” was designed by German firm Volocopter. It has actually already been tested in Dubai. Companies are also using drones to:

• Charge our electric vehicles. Amazon was recently granted a patent for the technology.

• Alleviate the risk of their workers climbing cell phone towers

• Gather data to make the agriculture process more efficient

• Forecast the weather

• Improve global waste management

• Plan construction projects

Is the sky the limit?

When it comes to drones and all of the related emerging technology, the old cliché doesn’t really apply. The potential for drones and their uses are actually quite limitless. In the future, we’ll see them used for many other purposes that we may have missed in this article. Thanks for taking the time to read about the amazing things drones can do. We'd love to hear from you. Is there drone use you loved reading about or something we missed above? Tell us about it in the comments below or contact us. We'd love to hear from you.

About The Author, Vipin Singh
Vipin is a freelance writer who is passionate about drones and all that they can do. He also works as a Market Analyst of GreyB Research, a patent analytic and research firm with offices in Singapore and the United States. Vipin can also be found on LinkedIn