Miami Dolphins

Watch this dizzying first-person view of a pro drone race

Published Feb. 22, 2016 8:21 p.m. ET

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Nick Schwartz

The Drone Racing League kicked off its season at Miami's Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins and quickly proved why it sports a visual appeal no other sports league can possibly match.

Some of the world's most talented pilots gathered in Miami in December for "Level 1," a challenging course featuring multiple elevation changes and tight turns which served as the first event of the 2016 DRL season. DRL released a traditional broadcast of the heat races on Monday -- the official broadcast launch of the season -- and it has the usual: an announcer, pilot interviews and plenty of in-air action. But it's clear that the best way to watch drone races is by riding aboard the machine itself, POV angles of drones zipping through tiny gates and darting around the concourses might leave you nauseous.

So strap in and enjoy:

How does it all work? The pilots wear goggles that provide them with a video feed from their drone, and they navigate the course by looking for the neon lights placed along the route. Each pilot earns a certain number of points just for passing checkpoints during the race -- as it's difficult just to keep the drone in one piece.

The only way this could be better is if each drone was equipped with a weapon to use against the competition, Mario Kart-style.

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