The carefully choreographed “Sky Magic” performance was the work of Tokyo-based ad firm MicroAd and involved 16,500 LED lights fixed to 21 drones, each flying machine moving in time to live music from a group playing shamisens, a traditional Japanese three-stringed guitar.

Tsuyoshi Takashiro, the creative director of the project, said he wanted to “bring a new type of magic to the sky using drones.” It’s not clear how the ad company plans to use the platform going forward, but given the nature of its business, it’ll doubtless be keen to liaise with interested parties to create similar performances for product or event promotion.

MicroAd’s performance is similar in many ways to the stunning drone display unveiled by Intel last year that saw 100 of the flying machines take to the sky at once.

The chip giant collaborated with Ars Electronica Futurelab, a center for multidisciplinary research and development in Austria, on the project. You can check out the impressive results below.

Intel has shown a strong interest in the drone industry, investing $60m in Chinese drone-maker Yuneec last year and more recently acquiring German drone company Ascending Technologies

Its dazzling drone performance earned the company the Guinness World Record for Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously.

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