 Roddy afternoon folks that Ralston here in downtown Honolulu in our think tech studio Where the drone leads this episode is really a red-letter episode I'll tell you the title in a minute. First. Let me introduce our Excellent guest pocket salmon. I'll tell you from Makaha. Makaha angels as a matter of fact. Yes, and you are a Expressive content producer. Yes in the world of video production or Artistic production and various kinds. Yes, and we'll tell you tell about why it's important to have pocket on her in a minute We do have Mike McFarland coming in he's stuck in traffic right now We expect him here for the second half of our show. We have two 15-minute segments So we'll be able to get Mike in on the second half. Okay, but What's amazing about these two folks the missing Mike and of course pocky who's right here is it in the world of drone ism They are Users end-state users of of the high variety of end-state users. They really see the value and see the The capabilities that are useful to them in their world of expression and typically on the show We have engineers. We have technicians. We have regulators We have people who think about how we're going to make this happen But you guys are thinking about what to do with it once it does get made to be happen And that is so important because we really need the end-state users needs Come forth as strong and as loud as you can make them so that the drone manufacturers can do the job right and so that here in the state of Hawaii with our participation in the pan-Pacific UAS test and research center PPU TRC We can focus on those things that are important to Hawaii and only you the end-state users really get that picture We on the production side don't necessarily get that picture So now I've one of the rules in a show. Okay, you're a first time around a show is no monologues Okay, I just violated that rule the other rule this thing, you know it if it's a red light It means it's on and good unlike your car a red light not good, right in this station red light great Okay, so we're that's all we are anyway Tell us a little bit about about how you got started in in expressive media in the first place And then how drones came into that picture for you ever since I was young I was always interested in photography cameras and I took a couple classes in high school and Which was on this island? Yes, non-acouli high school and you know, I graduated in 1990 So we really didn't have much like the kids have today would they go to school and they have computers They have cameras So it was like a long journey for me to even get a camera in my hand myself You know because they were really expensive and stuff But then I started working in the Hawaii film and television industry after graduation. Yeah after graduation a couple of years After high school doing stunts and stuff from the stunt department because I'm from a kaha I'm a water woman and so because of that, you know surfing was like becoming popular again in mainstream So I was like one of the four you actually lived the content as well as developing the content You are a content producer for real. I mean you did the real stunts. You did the real Graphic work and such Even prior to where you are today with the the producing side of it Yes, yes. Well, I wasn't really you know the visuals. Yeah, I was on camera talent. That's how I started in the industry And then um, you know, I bought my own little camera with the underwater kit as well because I'm a surfer and You know all the surfing movies a lot was underwater So I just bought my own kit and that's kind of how I started doing like small little behind-the-scenes jobs or Going out with the stunt men in the water and filming them doing like hydrofoiling or any stuff like that So that was how I got my start and so you have seen a lot of change then there's time gone on because you've seen us moving From the film days to the digital days and now to the UAV domain. Yes So how did the UAV or the drone aspect come into your field of view? Well before we get into that I want to talk about the Show you know There's a step right so the I bought this expensive underwater like full-on capability broadcast quality camera kit Then the GoPro came along so then everybody has cameras now, right? And then everybody bought in just before GoPro showed up So you spent all your money on a big high-end system and GoPro came in for 300 bucks and cut everything going on Yes, yes, but I mean for broadcast quality in the beginning GoPro wasn't there, but I just wanted to prove that point that you know Spending like so much money and it's a big investment and then technology is changing and then now you can get like a little GoPro for That's has incredible quality and brought maybe a little bit broadcast quality for beak B roll camera as well So and it's like the drones today today, right? They're like really Affordable compared to how they were before I have a couple friends who like was started innovating them Way in the beginning and spent like hundreds of thousands of dollars learning and crashing and Doing all kinds of stuff like that. So you are right in the middle of this technology evolution from expensive high-end systems to systems that are a lot less expensive we can come close to the job that the iron systems Do and you apparently see that taking place in the drone orientation and that's got you fired up in drones Yes, so tell us how that actually occurred what what have you got yourself a drone? Have you begun flying it in this sort of thing? Yeah, I started with the Phantom vision to and that was the one that you did you wasn't fortunate that you could use the phone for the monitor You had to buy a separate monitor and you know, and then you also had to build your drone So a little bit like now you just buy it out of the box and it's ready to go But um, so I started like that and like that was like maybe a twenty two hundred dollar investment And then I got the Phantom You have this history of buying the expensive stuff first and then getting getting outdated by the inexpensive stuff coming in right after your purpose So I need to watch what you buy and just wait and then pick up the cheaper version a month later Well, you know, you want to be on the cutting edge of of Technology and so you got to make the investment and but you know, it's that's that's life and technology It's always changing. There's always a bigger better television system That's going to come out in six months But you know that badly really leads to what our shows all about is finding out where those future states are and figure out how to define what that future is and Work with the again the manufacturers the university and the designers to get to that future So if maybe we don't want to ask us well ask this question of you and not expect an answer until the end of the show Then you're obligated to answer it. The question is Well, as you've seen this technology transition take place What would you want five years from now this whole thing to look like to most make your Business successful and make your customers really happy in the world of content Expressive content generation you think about that for a minute because you know, could you even have thought two years ago? What you have today it would be a tough imagination to have even thought two years ago What you got you mentioned buying things having to buy the spec separate monitor Assemble it yourself now it comes out of a box and your cell phone is used to monitor But what's next but you can help to find that what next step is and that would be really useful to all of us And but I want to also introduce or I met you and Mike who's not quite here yet But we met on Sunday at the second day of a of the first ever UAS training class held here in Hawaii in the preparation for the FAR 107 test which is coming up. I trust you signed up for the test now. I haven't signed up for the test yet I've been a little bit busy doing my business and flying on the neighbor islands But I'm definitely gonna sign great but the fact that you were there in this class spending your weekend and spending your money going through all the training to turn you from a Content generator into an aviator because now you're gonna have to you learn all the language of aviation and all the graphs and the charts and take Care of maintaining all that once you have that first level of qualification That's an incredible investment of your own intellectual capital in your time and your money And if you don't pass the test the first time you get to spend 150 bucks and take it again So this is this is a big step a big barrier to entry to a lot of folks But you've taken the initiative to go forward and knock that barrier down So how did you hear about the class and what's your thoughts on having coming from the outside the aviation business now having that Couple of days class. What are your thoughts on how this is all gonna work? For don't feel any pressure Well, I got into the class from Mike at drone service who's been on the show many times Yes, and he was a great help guiding me, you know and like shout out to Mike Elliott, right? So he was like he was just letting me know that we're gonna have this we're gonna have that and then prior to the The new world change I already like Invested in another class to write my 3 3 3 exemption, which is Has already been submitted. So I was just waiting So the world what really made me passionate up to go to the class and like in the rule change is that People in different industries are already approaching me and asking me like hey, we want drones You know we want what can you guys what can you do and stuff like that? So I was like I Need to strike the hammer while it's hot. So that's why I'm pursuing it and also because it's a good example for little girls This is a you know, the world is changing little girls are becoming very technologically oriented So I also wanted to I heard it wasn't even running for president right now, right? How awesome is that? You know So let's bring up another point here. So if people want to get a hold of you I mean you come to the show here and you do your thing, but you also are doing out doing business So people want to get a hold of you What do they do? They can give me a call at the phone my phone number or there it is on the screen, right? Yeah, or they can Okay, or they cannot send me an email or go to pocky salmon calm and that's really easy to remember pocky dot Pocky dot salmon salmon calm. No, my that's yours is like has the dot minus pocky salmon dot no dot Okay, pocky p a ke and then salmon like the fish say lm on calm really easy, right? That's what I normally say when I introduce myself. I'm my name is pocky salmon like the fish So okay, and then you remember again is once it was on the screen already But if people weren't quite ready to write it down, it's 808 258 7253 And you want the hard challenging jobs that have that require a real creative expression orientation Not necessarily I'm always willing and open to hear what a client has to say what they have in mind and then taking the Technology what's going on with different things with the drones not just cinematography or photography, but you know The construction for example, what kind of let's talk about that. What kind of customers have come after you What kind of jobs do you find yourself doing? well Thus far the only job that I've really done is Is for a non-profit Ka'ala farns out in Waianae they had a fire and Their holly got burned down and so while there was rebuilding the holly. I would just go there and film Fly the drone around the holly as it's Being played kind of like a progressive record of the holly being reconstructed or something like that Yeah, and that's I also have the work yard of the holly before the fire and then during getting burned down by the fire and Then stuff like that editorially, you know, that's a really interesting and important aspect of And we're drones can really help a lot and that's in called post disaster damage assessment If you had some imagery of the condition prior to some kind of a issue disaster or whatever it might be Then you have a much better idea from a from a remote Sensing perspective of what the nature of the damage is and is there going to be further collapse of the building? Is there going to be a is there a problem getting in to get people out? We have to shut upward where's the power shut off all that sort of thing can be done If you had that kind of a record which you can't get from the satellite But you can get it from the drone flying in close so something interesting would be for people who Want to to have a record made of their house from multiple angles and multiple perspectives Probably different times a day to get the sunlight, right? So you get a really nice picture of your your company your house whatever it might be as a reference So for when there's an ever some kind of an issue you know what it used to look like and what it looks like now We'll tell you what the nature of the internal damage might be so Okay, and this is Again fascinating because it's so important to have you as this interstate user if you think of the Tell us what the needs are if you think of the range of customers you might have What kind of tasks would they throw your way besides the one of the farm? What kind of once you get your license once you get your you're past the 107 test What kind of additional work do you think you might see? archaeology archaeologists especially on the west on the north shore right the west side archaeologists You know the mapping and sites cultural sites Of course search and rescue, you know out on that side as well Construction real estate much anything that requires any kind of imagery. Let's let's pick that up after our first break here But that that's that's once again the objective is to get you on the show and other and 15 other people like you Tell that story as robustly as you can and we'll get that when we get back for a break Okay, how was I was it okay? When disaster happens real-time information and the ability to communicate are critical to helping people in need Introducing the phantom eye It's an eye in the sky at 65,000 feet where it's needed when it's needed above any place on earth Phantom eye is a hydrogen-powered unmanned air vehicle that really gives us global reach The phantom eye is a UAV that is built to gather and transmit information Cruising for days in the stratosphere far above storms turbulence or commercial aircraft This would be a vehicle you could put up over a disaster area or if all communications were lost could basically come in and replace Satellite communications the phantom eye offers immense flexibility It can be used for emergency relief search and rescue operations port security border monitoring and scientific experiments On the military side a lot of the work is geared towards intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance gathering to create this aircraft Boeing developed an entirely new wing and propulsion system both highly efficient. The wing is one of the critical technologies It's 150 feet long when it's flying it actually bows up some because of carrying the weight of the fuselage Inside the fuselage are the two twin hydrogen fuel tanks. We bring hydrogen into the chamber with oxygen and The combustion produces water, so it's about as green as it can get when it's flying The current experimental phantom eye can carry a 450 pound payload of cameras and other equipment The actual production version will have an even bigger wing 250 feet and carry a 2,000 pound payload The demonstrator that we're building but it'll stay up for four days Eventually we envision the operational vehicle being a 10-day vehicle Once an unmanned airborne vehicle can stay aloft for 10 days Three or four of the aircraft could provide 24-7 coverage all year long above any point on the globe There's a whole host of new technologies being demonstrated and this couldn't be pulled off without a team that's coming forward with the innovation And the solutions to bring this all together Aloha everyone, I'm Maria Mera and I'm here to invite you to my bilingual So Viva Hawaii every other Monday at 3 p.m. We are here to show you news issues and events Local and around the world join me Welcome to think tech Hawaii comm. This is Johnson Choi your host My focus is Asia in reveal. We talk about interesting subjects in Asia Be sure to check the think tech comm website on the next topic Thank you Live Friday afternoon folks ten Ralston here downtown Honolulu think tech studios with our guests We've actually had our guests compliment increased by 50% right here in this last break We have of course pock a summon on who's been on the first half of the show and Mike McFarlane is joining us and Mike You're a man of many identification so Let's how won't you identify where you how you want to be identified on this show? Well, I'm not a secret agent Not a secret agent. You know you got a black shirt on okay. I I I'm a cereal entrepreneur cereal entrepreneur. Okay. I start things I don't necessarily finish things very well, but I'm that's good Start them up. Let's someone else buy them and then get on to something else. Absolutely. I do a lot of things I own a few businesses that I won't bore you with I'm president outdoor circle. I don't know if you've heard of this I heard about that. Yeah, yeah, that takes up a lot of my time, but You know, it's those are just a few things about me So actually both of you are very similar in terms of internal motivation You're both motivated from some inside machine that's running to go do a lot of different things and push in different directions And that's what I was okay began to show I was saying and what's incredible about this particular episode of this show we run every week Is it this the first time we've had real end-state users on I mean people who are not just casual users, but serious users serious enough to go take the FAA 107 tests to get their licenses to run this thing no renegade operations no Slate of hand and non-transparent but right out there in front getting a license and getting a certificate and doing it all formally legal and In the front of that pack I might add in fact the very first class that was held here in Hawaii for that thing So I my hats off to you But also as it's like okay that The perceptions you guys bring to the table of what's useful and necessary in this drone world is really important for the drone Manufacturers to hear so every opportunity we have we need to bring those things out and let the university know let the State UAS test site know and let the manufacturers know and to that extent Zuri if you can't after a bit can you bring up the flyer on the on the state of Hawaii's aerospace? Experience week come up in October. There we go. This is a fly. This is going to be really interesting to the two of you This is a d-beds annual Exposure expression if you will in a creative way of the value of aerospace to the state of Hawaii taking place in the capital this year October 2 through 7 and on the cap on the yard out in front of the capital as well as in the basement There'll be booths and things and we really need to get as many UA unmanned air systems are drone oriented users like you guys into the picture with booths and tables and Gives an opportunity for the lawmakers as they're passing through and going about their daily business to interact with people who actually using or developing or Regulating these systems in order to see the big picture of how they fit in Hawaii So I just offer that to you and we'll have to figure out Who else to you that you can bring it and make this thing totally full of that if I had to list the challenges of our budding growing Sprouting industry it's it's connection with the lawmakers is right up there. There is you know We've got a PR problem. I mean it we literally have a problem out there where we're being associated with things that Huge that kill things that spy on people and that can do all this down All my bad stuff the drones do right and so it's it's really sort of you know I watch industries and watch how they start and right now what we've got is we've got a situation where Information to the key people is probably the biggest things that we can do as as entrepreneurs and Business people and talk show hosts And that's what you guys are both all about expressive Creation of expressive material, so there's a great opportunity to use that very skill that you both possess in this October Two to seven episode down here at the Capitol, right? Well, you know, there's any lawmakers out there that want to come by and Possibly thinking about passing it below a law that are legislation and involves drones Please come see us first. We think we can help you put something out there that will make sense for everybody and and you know Bridge that gap that that exists, you know, that's a really good point It was not in Texas back in April at a conference that Texas A&M had on the same subject and there was a advocate for drone operations present and he was actually in place to help the legislators down there draw Bills and such and they took a negative bill that said here's the things you can't do and over a period of maybe 18 months Turned it around and it became a list of what you can do and it listed like 25 different functions that were identified as being okay for the law enforcement public safety and Environmental folks to do and every time there's a new case that makes sense it gets added to the list So this I think is House bill 912 and or 812 one of the two in Texas And this become a model for a lot of the parts of the country, but that was cool much from negative to positive was just Accurate and steady Advocacy that it was honest and was clear and that's what you guys are once again expressive content So I hope the general public will come out too for this because the general public is the other Part of the component that needs the bridge and he's speaking, you know, they're the poor homeowner that envisions Drones flying around them looking at their house and things that aren't gonna happen things that can't happen things are not even possible But again, it just takes the right information getting to the lawmakers and the and the people that don't want to fly them But are gonna be their lives are going to be changed by them What are they like it or not? That's a really interesting concept you bring up bring the people who are concerned or maybe negative towards a situation Bring them out and invite them absolutely and then give them Interaction with people who are designers and such and who would listen to their concerns and find ways to make their concerns go away That'd be great. So I'll talk a give us a story of how she began into this got into this world Which was in very interesting. She sort of started from the absolute end stage She was a stunt person in in video productions long time ago And that led to now on the production side and that led to the new technologies and such Tell us Mike about what your path was to get you all the way down to the class last weekend to get your license well, I It goes back to what I do for a living I start businesses and I have very little talent Actually, but one thing that I do I very well as I can sense an opportunity I can see that there will be a market and when I saw them the new technology and will was possible with and some of the film and some of the things you're doing I've seen that the the the Potential there is what drove drew me in you know, I can see several Businesses waiting to happen in here in Hawaii if things go right and that is the question right now in the forefront and that the battle we're fighting is to to make sure this industry starts out responsibly and and and with Safety in mind and you know all the things that we all want and we'd like to sort of get out there that that is the intent of FAA and all the people are trying to regulate it and so forth And my hats off to you as I mentioned to pocket earlier in the first segment that you guys actually took the effort took the initiative and took The money and your time out of your life to go to a class last weekend and begin learning this thing from an aviator perspective Which brings you into that language and that understanding which is essential to the point you made of safety and reliability and FAA compliance and such And it is that is such a in my mind a high mark in your favor for having done that as opposed to taking a renegade path Which anybody could do in is part of the problem well, and I think it will eventually be part of our message to the To the general public is that if you have a license to fly these things you're basically a pilot It may you know you can't jump in a plane and fly it, but the things that they teach in this class It's taught at a flight school, and it's done from a very Aviation-based FAA did it so I guess that's that's that's a good start But what the people that are concerned about them should know is that if you hold a license And if you're able to get insurance and if you're able to do all the things that you should You're not a danger. In fact, you you are somebody you know why we need to write that down Look at the video when this is done You just nominated a major expressive creative picture for the The October event down the state capital and we don't have much time left with this is a very short program now 250 minutes segments where we're approaching the end But I wanted to capture that and hope Jim Christopher is watching and we'll go ahead and support that at the October state event and let me at this point in time say thank you Okay for coming on the show Mike thanks that come on again and the rules are once you're on the show You got to come on again, so we'll get you again later and with that folks. We're signing off for Friday