What is Vision Assist, DJI's new drone safety feature?

Vision Assist is a new safety feature by DJI that has been added to the Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro drones through a firmware update. Also available for the Mavic 3 series, Vision Assist shows live footage from the aircraft’s front, rear, left, and right directions during flight for enhanced safety.

When to use Vision Assist on your DJI drone

There are several scenarios where Vision Assist can prove to be handy. To switch to Vision Assist view, all you need to do is swipe left on the attitude indicator, right on the mini-map, or tap the icon in the lower right corner of the attitude indicator.

Let’s now discuss in detail when to use Vision Assist on your Mini 4 Pro, Air 3, or Mavic 3 drone…

Multi-directional obstacle awareness

Vision Assist allows you to identify potential obstacles seamlessly through the remote controller view and navigate confidently around them. For camera movements like circling or pulling away, lateral and backward visual assistance can help you gauge the spatial distances to the left, right, and back. You can also maintain a forward view even during high-angle shots.

Also read: DJI Air 3 holiday update improves safety, battery, camera features

Enhanced precision while using 3x or 7x camera

Another great use for Vision Assist comes when you’re leveraging the zoom cameras on the Mavic 3 or the Air 3 drone. The telephoto lens can sometimes make judging distances tricky due to its narrow field of view. In this case, forward visual support offers a broader perspective of the environment ahead, enabling focused telephoto shots without worrying about restricted visibility.

Assistance during nighttime filming

You can also use Vision Assist to turn potential dimly lit obstacles into bright spots on the screen. This capability proves invaluable when nighttime lighting doesn’t satisfy minimum obstacle avoidance levels. You’d essentially be enjoying an added peace of mind when taking pictures at night because of the extra safety in place.

More possibilities for creative shots

Vision Assist empowers you to take hassle-free creative shots with your Mavic 3, Air 3, or Mini 4 Pro drone. Since the feature eliminates blind spots, you can control the drone more confidently and capture bolder, boundary-pushing footage.

Collision warning with Vision Assist

When an obstacle in the current view direction is detected, Vision Assist will show you a collision warning. The color of the warning is determined by the distance between the obstacle and the aircraft. A yellow warning means that the distance between the aircraft and the obstacle is between 2.2 and 5 meters. On the other hand, if the obstacle is less than 2.2 meters away from the drone, a red warning will show. Do note that this warning will appear only when Vision Assist is being displayed in the small window.

Another thing to know is if you are using DJI RC, once you enable Vision Assist, the primary video transmission quality will be reduced to 720p, and the camera view displayed on the screen may appear slightly blurrier than before.

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