Less talk more drone: social research with UAVs

There is a growing body of work in geography and sociology on the impact of drones on

warfare, surveillance and civil protest. This paper assesses the challenges of using drones

for teaching human geography and spatial social sciences. Affordable and expensive

drones are now available in the market place; however, there has been next to no

reflection on how drones might impact upon the social sciences as a research tool. Yet,

unmanned flying vehicles pose some profound possibilities for social and cultural

inquiry and aerial data collection.