A thousand drones bring climate-change light show to New York’s skyline

The Projecting Change NYC Drone Show will bring a thousand drones to the New York skyline in a unique light show above the East River.

The event will take place above the United Nations Building, with the support of sponsors Avaaz, Eat Differently, The Ford Foundation, Nova Sky Stories and The Oceanic Preservation Society, to draw attention to the global climate crisis and inspire action at scale.

The drones will perform a series of synchronized shows to inspire, educate, unify, and activate the local and global collective around the climate crisis and other important environmental campaigns.

This coincides with the 78th United Nations General Assembly and the UN-Secretary-General’s Climate Ambition Summit and SDG Summit, sending a strong message to world leaders – and will serve as a kick-off to Climate Week.

In anticipation of this key moment, Projecting Change has developed an aerial art show with the support of Avaaz, Eat Differently, The Ford Foundation, The Oceanic Preservation Society, TMRW, and Holtzman Wildlife, alongside production partners Nova Skystories, Minds Over Matter, Soren West, and HELO which sheds light on key initiatives driving climate change policy and action.

The show was directed by Academy Award-winning director of The Cove and Director of Projecting Change, Louie Psihoyos, who said in a statement, “Our creative teams have programmed a thousand drones to dance over the New York City skyline to form magical creatures that deliver messages on how to save the planet—you won’t want to miss this show.”

Projecting Change CEO Christopher Lejeune is the executive producer of the show.

“Art has the power to shift cultures. We urgently need to drive change at scale – to redesign our human systems to be in alignment with nature, and respect all life. Our children’s survival and all future generations of life on Earth – depend on it,” Lejeune said in a statement.

Beginning at sunset New York time, a synchronized series of drone shows will be viewable throughout the night by New Yorkers along the East River on both sides. At the start of each show, viewers will be prompted to scan a QR code in the sky which will bring them to the Drone Show’s associated campaigns.

The QR code will also feature a call-to-action to take part in a unique contest hosted by TMRW, an initiative that aims to empower humanity towards an inclusive and sustainable future through the use of AI to imagine what that future could look like. Participants will be encouraged to enter their creative ideas for objects, inventions, places and environments that could contribute to a sustainable future. The AI system developed by TMRW will then get to work generating visuals that bring these ideas to life.

The drones taking flight are powered by Nova Sky Stories, which stages drone show experiences and was founded by entrepreneur Kimbal Musk. The evening will feature presentations of climate action animations illuminated by 1,000 drones in the night sky above the East River.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz