![The Inertia](https://www.theinertia.com/wp-content/themes/theinertia-2018/dist/images/favicon-surf.png?x28523)
Remember that time James Bond drove his car into the ocean? It was a Lotus and it converted into a submarine underwater. From The Spy Who Loved Me, I believe. Anyway, this is like the drone version of that, with the ability to both fly and maneuver underwater.
Dubbed “The Naviator,” the multi-dimensional machine comes from researchers at Rutgers’s University. It looks and acts like a normal aerial drone but it also as the ability to submerge below water and maneuver accordingly. The amphibious gadget is clearly in the early stages but this is perhaps a glimpse into the near future, especially for water-based action sports photography.
Drones already are just about the hottest thing in surf photography since the fisheye. On a good day at any popular surf spot, it’s become normal to hear the buzz of robotic insects flying above the lineup. But imagine the possibilities of “The Naviator.” It would be a marriage of aerial and water photography. Picture this…the camera pans below a crystal blue surface, fish are picking at the reef, we begin to surface, the serene underwater landscape exhales into a crisp blue sky, and John John Florence is dropping in on a bomb at Pipe, the camera narrowly escapes the beast’s reeling lip as JJF gets spit out. That could be pretty cool, but it could also mean a lot of valuable hardware lost to pilot error.