The technology is still in early stages, so the wobbly drones can't form complex objects, but the potential is there. In one case, the team used the system to browse "files," swiping drones left and right to show the contents. After the operator opened an architectural drawing, the cube-like ShapeDrones form the basic positioning of the building in 3D space. Then, a user can "drag" the drones around to adjust the building's orientation. The operator can change the parameters of the ShapeDrone by using the touchscreen on the DisplayDrone to change the LED color. You can perform other common gestures like pinching and rotating by touching multiple drones (see below).

Right now, the system supports around a dozen large drones, but the researchers are hoping to scale it up to work with "thousands" of flying bots no larger than a half-inch across. Those would act, in essence, like 3D physical pixels to form simulated objects. We'll admit it would be cool to see swarming drones form a flying 3D display, but in this case, donning a headset actually looks easier.