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By Noel Young | Correspondent

September 16, 2013 | 2 min read

Never get lost again - that is if you have a drone to show you the way!

Far from the warlike world of spying and aerial attacks, the geniuses at MIT in Massachusetts have developed an amazing device to help visitors, lost on it’s mazelike campu,s find their way. All they need is a a smartphone to summon a small, hovering drone aircraft .

Researchers at the MIT Senseable City Laboratory are working on the SkyCall project, which will allow users to summon and communicate with the drones - called Quadcopters - via a special app.

In addition to directing visitors, the small flying robot highlights interesting points they pass along the way by speaking to users through their phone.

After months of trial and error that led to at least one crash landing in the nearby Charles River, says the Boston Globe, the project had its first successful launch last month.

The prototype is not ready for public use yet, in part because US regulations currently bar such uses.

The project shows the growing potential for drones, beyond bombing raids and spying missions, says the Globe.

The YouTube video (see above) demonstrates the technology by poking fun at “someone you would typically expect to be lost within MIT.”

The video’s bewildered main character -shown being led through the campus by the drone - wears a Harvard lanyard and pin from that other university down the street.