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A Dutch engineer has stunned the world with a newfangled video in which he is point taking flight of steps by strapping on a set of wings , run and flapping his arms like a bird . Using Nintendo Wii technology , Jarno Smeets has rigged a contraption in which the motion of his arms is synced to that of a huge couplet of wings made of kite fabric . In his first successful flight on March 18 , he apparently used his " Human Bird Wings " to soar a horizontal length of 328 feet ( 100 meters ) above a green in the Netherlands .
An nightlong YouTube sentience , the videohas rack up more than 1 million aspect in the preceding sidereal day , and it is only the latest in a serial publication of popular videos tracking Smeets ' progress over the past eight month as he has bit by bit gotten his Human Bird Wings jut off the flat coat .
Smeets has been described as " a modern Leonardo da Vinci , " and lay claim to have draw inspiration from da Vinci ’s 500 - year - erstwhile wing drawings to build his flying auto . Another intake , Smeets recount the world , is the albatross , one of nature ’s most proficient of flyers . [ 10 Inventions that change the World ]
As advert prominently in his video verbal description , web site and mechanical press handout , Smeets ' wings are manipulated using Nintendo Wii remote controllers and accelerometer from an HTC Wildfire S mechanical man smartphone , and they ’re power by Turnigy motor . He used a GoPro helmet photographic camera to shoot his flight .
" I am about 85 per centum sealed this is a BVMP ( branded viral movie production ) , " said Brent Coker , an cyberspace marketing expert at the University of Melbourne . Coker put out a possibility last twelvemonth highlightingwhat it takes for a viral - produced movie to actually go viral , and Human Bird Wings appears to have all the component of success .
First , the Wii and other mathematical product being mention are congruent with the think life-style of Smeets and the other technical school - savvy guys on his team . Moreover , the video has substantial excited solicitation : At the closing , Smeets say viewing audience , " At one minute you see the ground moving away , and then suddenly you ’re free , a really vivid feeling of exemption . The true feeling of flying . A [ bleep ] magical moment . The best belief I have felt in my aliveness ! "
Third , the video appeals to a wide web of people — untried DIY types as well as anyone who has ever dreamed of flying like a raspberry . Lastly , it combines two approaches that work on well together in viral advertising campaigns , allot to Coker ’s research : In the video , viewers see something highly surprising , and they ’re also likely to imagine themselves being friends with Smeets and his collaborators and sharing their ideals . These four attributes are a recipe for success , Coker say .
So , if it is an ad , who ’s behind it ? Coker toldLife ’s Little Mysteriesthat any of the companies featured could have commissioned the video recording , with Nintendo being the most likely . But so far , none are coming onwards .
GoPro has been linked to several other viral video advertising stunts , butGoPro spokesman Rick Loughery say his company had nothing to do with it . " We do n’t have any connection with the video except that we have been sharing it around the office and think it ’s cool , " he said . Nintendo did not react to requests for gossip .
The March 18 TV was made with more care , but it , too , strike CGI experts as an elaborate fake . Ryan Martin , Technical Director at Industrial Light & Magic , and his colleagues severalize the techblogGizmodothat the video ’s poor focus covers up most evidence of CGI , but that the textile cloth of Smeets ' wings looks by artificial means stiff , and is information processing system generated . Furthermore , the experts manoeuvre out that the animation cycle of Smeets take flight through the air seems to be modeled on a clip of a fly monkey in the Wizard of Oz . However , Martin and his co-worker also catch the pan - away in the Jan. 20 video recording , and the difference between Smeets ' and the wing ' appearance before and after the pan , as the smoke gun that the whole Human Bird Wings undertaking is a pretender . In particular , after the pan , a black lame appear on the right wing that was intelligibly not there before .
In short , alas , it seems that man has yet to attain the flight of the millstone .
Smeets did not respond to requests for gossip .
