There's one potential novel use that comes to my mind, but I don't know how truly novel it is, i.e. if lots of people are already doing it.
Larger "real" sounding rockets are used to gather high altitude atmospheric data. They can both reach greater altitude and carry larger and heavier payloads than model rockets. But with the advent of much smaller and lighter electronics and sensors, even a low- or mid-power (thus small- or mid-size) model rocket can carry a sophisticated payload to hundreds of meters, and thousands of meters with high power. This makes it possible to gather a great abundance of atmospheric data at those altitudes for a much lower cost than by using the larger sounding rockets.
As I type I have thought of another, similar notion. Mapping and surveillance are usually done from high altitude airplanes, satellites, or perhaps high altitude sounding rockets. Once again, the advent of smaller electronic systems, including cameras, may well create situations where the altitude reached by low- and mid-power rockets is sufficient for certain purposes. Lots of us place cameras on our rockets, yet so far as I know they have not been used for any practical purposes.
