Domino's Unveils The Pizza Delivery Drone

[Fanghawk]

Domino's Unveils The Pizza Delivery Drone

One day, late-night pizza orders could be airlifted directly to your front door.

For the past decade, humanity has taken some very promising steps towards its planned technological utopia. We can now download any form of entertainment through wireless connections, and even <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123418-VR-Omni-Directional-Treadmill-Lets-Players-Run-and-Gun>virtual reality seems to be right around the corner. Food services like pizza delivery, however, haven't developed this century beyond placing your order in the back seat of a car. Thankfully, someone at Domino's Pizza has thought of an improvement to the traditional "pizza-to-home" formula. In partnership with creative agency T + Biscuits and drone developer Areosight, Domino's has unveiled "The DomiCopter", an octacopter designed expressly for flying pizza directly to your front door.

While very much in the prototype stage, the DomiCopter is fully capable of delivering two large pizzas across a four-mile radius in ten minutes, bypassing potential traffic with little difficulty. This particular prototype was operated by a trained drone pilot, but one can also imagine an automated GPS system taking over the process. "If anything, it went quicker than a pizza boy," said T + Biscuit's founder Tom Hatton. "We were amazed at how easy it was going to be."

In all seriousness, we probably shouldn't expect pizza-delivering drones to become common anytime soon, if at all. Governments in the US and UK tightly regulate commercial drone use. For example, <a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19397816>it is illegal to fly drones within 150 meters of congested areas in the UK, so this prototype spent most of its time over open farmland. These laws are expected to be revisited by 2020, but in the meantime, the DomiCopter will receive further testing at Domino's UK headquarters, where the company hopes to increase its payload to carry additional items like pop bottles.

Source: T + Biscuits, via <a href=http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/dominos-carries-world-first-pizza-drone-delivery-210123802.html>Yahoo

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[Scrythe]

At least I won't have to tip it, right?

Right?

 

[LordLundar]

Funny, the latest Dominos ads I've been seeing have been how they stopped doing the gimmicky, silly promotions. Guess that was short lived.

 

[ellers07]

So... how does it know who to deliver the pizza to? Do I have to stand in a particular spot on my lawn? What if I live in an apartment building on the third floor? Will it bump against the window until I let it in? More importantly, how does it know which window is mine? Can it simply ring a door bell? I didn't see an appendage that might help it with such an endeavor. More importantly, I'm not sure I trust my local Dominoes employees to pilot a drone.

 

[WanderingFool]

So THIS is how drones are going to kill us. By feeding us Domino's Pizza

More likely and more deadly than all those predator drones people are freaking out over...

Seriously though, Dominoes pizza sucks...

 

[FrozenCones]

I find that orbital bombardment is a much more efficient way to deliver pizza.

I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. Its the only way to be sure they're fed.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I can see some problems with this, such as the lack of trained drone pilots in the world, the inability to return proper change, and the dangers of flying pizza, but the future is a problematic place. If we want to live in the future, we have to take risks. And drone-delivered pizza is a risk I am willing to take.

 

[Zeren]

I can see the headline now....

"Dominos Pizza Drone Strikes Power Line; Thousands Left Without Power"

 

[Creativename360]

Oh goody, If I want a free pizza all I have to do is sit outside with a rifle, and try to shoot it down.

 

[FEichinger]

DEM DRONES! TAKIN' ALL OUR JOOOOOBS!

That said, I think that is prone to sooooo much abuse. Not to mention that I really don't think private companies putting cameras in the air "for the consumer" is a good idea.

 

[The Lugz]

So THIS is how drones are going to kill us. By feeding us Domino's Pizza

More likely and more deadly than all those predator drones people are freaking out over...

Seriously though, Dominoes pizza sucks...

I think the worst pizza is probably frozen minipizzas and the only better ones were quite expensive fancy imported ones
domino's were greasy ( atleast in my area ) didn't really enjoy any pizza all that much, i'm more of pasta/chicken kinda guy anyway but i've been on a be healthy kick for the last 5 years so i can't comment on any recent developments in the pizza space

 

[Ratties]

I can't wait for social interaction to be cut down to nothing. I hate talking to strangers. I say, bring it on. We are so close. I might be the minority here, If they could invent a drone that goes to work for me, that would be great.

 

[kat-pottz]

I can see some problems with this, such as the lack of trained drone pilots in the world, the inability to return proper change, and the dangers of flying pizza, but the future is a problematic place. If we want to live in the future, we have to take risks. And drone-delivered pizza is a risk I am willing to take.

truly a speech for the ages, when I grow older I will tell my grandchildren of your inspiring words.

(O.T. the worst thing I can see coming from the drone delivery is that you will have to pay before you get the pizza as there will be no one to make you pay when it gets to you and on top of that there is the possibility of the pizza not even getting there and you having wasted ten bucks.)

 

[Rack]

So... how does it know who to deliver the pizza to? Do I have to stand in a particular spot on my lawn? What if I live in an apartment building on the third floor? Will it bump against the window until I let it in? More importantly, how does it know which window is mine? Can it simply ring a door bell? I didn't see an appendage that might help it with such an endeavor. More importantly, I'm not sure I trust my local Dominoes employees to pilot a drone.

If this were genuinely practical (and I'm fairly certain it isn't, not for a good long while) I'd solve these issues thusly.

Add a sealed container to the production unit and require either a password or use facial recognition to identify whoever orders it in order to access the pizza. Get the drone to phone IM or email a message 30 seconds before it arrives. Drones would need to be automated or there is very little point but if they did require pilots then they'd just have to issue training. If it meant flying mini helicopters around town I expect more people would want to be delivery drivers...

 

[RyQ_TMC]

If this ever becomes a reality (and it looks much more like an attempt at viral marketing to me), the obvious first step will be to order 50 pizzas to random addresses in some country run by a paranoid government. Not sure about the second step. But I can see profit in the end.

 

[nvzboy]

Well they showed a drone that carries pizza but a drone that can actually replace the pizza boy is a long ways off. How does payment work? How will it know who to drop off to in the instance of an appartment block... It's probably more a promotional stunt than a serious attempt at robotic delivery.

 

[SweetShark]

Now we need a videogame base of this news:

"Your factory name is 40881905-D. You are the first experimental pizza drone created by the scientists of the well known pizza devilery corporation Dominos.
You are also the first pizza drone that you will deliver the first pizza with this method. The first costumer: President of AMERICA!!!! You must do whatever the cost to deliver this pizza to the White House and prove that we need the mass production of your kind. However.....beware because we think many different rival corporations want to sabotage you!!! Good luck 40881905-D. You will need it."

*Heavy Metal music playing to the background*
*40881905-D flying and firing rockets*
*A Big Explosion to its back!!!*

"AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[Aeshi]

As cool as this idea is, you just know its a disaster waiting to happen...