DRONESHOWS TAKES FLIGHT

Guerilla-style drone shows coming to a town near you

When Taylor Mauriohooho first envisioned drone light shows captivating Kiwi audiences, he wasn’t thinking about redefining the drone show industry.

Yet his idea to create a cool spectacle has evolved into designing and manufacturing world-class, interactive drone technology right here in New Zealand.

At the heart of this transformation is Dr Isaac Henderson, a lecturer turned CEO, whose expertise in aviation regulation and passion for safety has driven the company’s ambition to set new global benchmarks. Together, Taylor and Isaac are not just intending to produce breathtaking light shows but to pioneer advancements that see cutting-edge aviation standards merge with artistic ingenuity.

Isaac shares the story behind Droneshows’ rise and their trailblazing technology. He describes the journey from prototyping their Whetū Tauira drones, to guerrilla roadshows lighting up small-town skies, ultimately to market disruption.

From Distributor to Manufacturer

Back in October 2021, Taylor Mauriohooho had a bold idea: bring drone light shows to New Zealand. What started with a TikTok clip and a spark of inspiration has since skyrocketed into a game-changing innovation.

Enter Dr Isaac Henderson, an aviation lecturer at Massey University with a background in civil aviation regulation. With flights already booked, Taylor sought Isaac’s advice on getting the necessary certifications for the off-the-shelf system he was going to purchase. Isaac’s response was clear, “We can do better.”

Isaac enlisted the help of Chris Jackson, who has a strong engineering background, and the pair investigated other existing systems on the market at the time. They were unimpressed with what they saw. Isaac summarises, “Existing systems were built on outdated technology and were not up to what we would consider to be ‘aviation’ standard. The manufacturers had no coherent answers to questions around safety and the systems lacked redundancies. As a result, they were very limited in the approvals that regulators were willing to give them. The more we educated Taylor about the known safety issues within the drone light show industry, including high failure rates and GPS reliance, the more he became convinced that New Zealand needed to develop its own hardware and software.”

Taylor’s vision took a bold turn, from staging drone shows to building the world’s leading drone light show system from the ground up. Committed to global safety benchmarks and armed with the drive to disrupt the international market, he tapped into his entrepreneurial savvy, having launched his first successful company at just nineteen, and by late 2021, Droneshows was born.

From Intention to Prototype

Droneshows’ journey from idea to innovation was all about rethinking what drone shows could be. Initially leading the project as a consultant, now CEO, Isaac recalls their 2022 game plan, “We aimed to set new standards for safety, reliability, and interactivity. We wanted to create a system that was not only safe, but would allow the audience to interact with the performance.”

By mid-2022, Droneshows had partnered with Christchurch company SPS Automation to create a new drone light show solution from scratch. Over the next year, the team built hardware and software with industry-leading fail-safes, enabling pilots to maintain control even in emergencies.

By April 2023, their first prototypes, Whetū Tauira, meaning ‘apprentice stars’, took flight in a private test, proving the concept. Five months later, they wowed audiences at their public debut during the Innovation Expo and Aerospace Summit in Christchurch. Operating in a challenging 12m by 6m by 5m indoor space that would cripple other systems, Droneshows leveraged a GPS alternative, ultra-wide band, to fly flawlessly on their redundant positioning system.

“Despite only flying eight drones, the response was overwhelming,” says Isaac. “At a tech expo, not even an entertainment event, people were captivated by the live interactivity, waving their hands to change the drones’ colours in sync with magical, Harry Potter-style music.

This was a world-first here in New Zealand.”

Counting Down to Lift Off

2025 is the year Droneshows takes flight, starting with 50 operational Whetū (‘star’) drones, with the fleet expanding throughout the year. Meanwhile, development is underway of the second-generation models, Kāhui Whetū (‘constellation’ or ‘swarm of stars’), which will push boundaries of what is possible even further. The naming convention, which centres around the Māori word for stars, is inspired by Matariki, which was Taylor’s original vision for where drone light shows could make an impact.

“The smaller fleet comes with a purpose,” says Isaac, “It makes drone shows accessible to smaller players. Generally, providers of drone light shows won’t perform with less than a hundred drones, which limits events to larger cities. We want to bring our technology to provincial New Zealand, which both myself and our founder identify with.”

To test the drones and build buzz, Droneshows is rolling out guerrilla-style roadshows across Aotearoa, staging surprise events in smaller centres. “No one will see it coming, which adds excitement and lets us further refine the tech without disappointing anyone if we need to reschedule,” Isaac explains.

Droneshows eventually plans to go global, ramping up production and exports to take their trail blazing technology to the world stage.

Navigating the Rules

While the past three years have focussed on product innovation, Taylor Mauriohooho’s passion for drone show production remains a driving force. Alongside manufacturing, Droneshows offers operational and regulatory support for event organisers, as well as creative design input for show managers.

Isaac, with a track-record of consulting and research on aviation regulations, sits on the Council of the Aviation Industry Association of New Zealand as Chair of UAVNZ, an industry and professional body representing the commercial UAV sector in New Zealand. He emphasises the need for live entertainment professionals to engage with aviation standards, “We’re a small part of the sector as Droneshows, but we face the same challenges as other operators – safety, regulation, and supply chain issues.”

In the absence of international standards and recommended practices, which exist for almost all aspects of conventional aviation, New Zealand’s risk-based Part 102 approval process requires operators to identify the risks posed by their operations and how they might be mitigated, for example, through training, maintenance, operating procedures, and risk management processes. For event organisers, the challenge becomes working with a Part 102 operator to ensure the operation is conducted safely and in compliance with the Civil Aviation Rules, “At Droneshows we try to keep that process as convenient as possible, but it is a challenge anyone wanting to organise a drone light show needs to be aware of.”

Droneshows’ commitment to live shows extends to hiring creatives, including an experienced VFX artist, and opening an internship for a recent graduate of Massey University. “Drone light shows are usually part of larger events,” Isaac says. “We love collaborating with organisers to bring their vision to life. There is no more public way of presenting your art than putting it 400 feet in the sky.”

What’s Next and How To Get Involved

The future of aviation in New Zealand is buzzing with potential and not just for light shows. Isaac sees New Zealand’s aerospace industry leading the way globally, “For a small country, we’re punching above our weight.

We’ve launched the fourth-largest number of rockets worldwide in recent years and are well ahead of our neighbours. In the drone sector, it’s swarming technology’s impact on pest and weed eradication that’s generating more excitement in the industry than drone light shows.”

While drones might seem like the poorer cousin to rockets, Isaac finds joy in their artistry and innovation, “I still mingle with scientists shaping the future of aviation and space programmes. When they ask me what I do, I say, ‘I help put pretty lights in the sky and move them around safely.’ It’s not world-changing, but as the only aerospace CEO serving the arts and entertainment sector, I love every second.”

For others who want a piece of the action, Isaac advises, “It’s not just about the pilot, there’s a whole team of people and weeks and weeks of work behind any 20-minute drone show. People with backgrounds in 3D animation, lighting, visual technology, programming, and storyboarding are really important to the end result, helping us to bring the technology to life.”

Opportunities for Businesses

As Droneshows moves into full operation, the company is looking for investors and global distributors to join its journey. And for businesses wanting to make an immediate impact, the guerrilla-style roadshow offers a unique opportunity.

Through their ‘Your Logo Here’ campaign, small companies and charities can submit their logo and a pitch to feature in a pop-up drone display along the roadshow. It’s a chance to shine – and to support a new era of interactive entertainment.