Hangovers will never be the same again.
Picture the scene: You’re a hungover, crusty mess. You haven’t showered, your wallet is full of receipts, and you are in no shape for human consumption. You don the ‘special’ tracksuit bottoms to wear about the house and order a hangover Domino’s online. Some 30 minutes later, this little tyke arrives at your door to drop off your extra large ‘Mighty Meaty’ pizza with the BBQ base.
You didn’t have to talk to anyone the entire process, saving what’s left of your alcohol-soaked pride as you tuck into your carbs with what’s left of Soccer Saturday on telly. Winner winner, chicken dinner.
The little tyke in question is DRU (Domino’s Robotic Unit), a battery-powered delivery robot that’s currently being trialled in Wellington, New Zealand as the next step of pizza delivery.
Standing at one metre tall, DRU contains two different compartments to keep beverages cool and pizzas (up to ten per robot) hot, which customers can unlock with an order-specific code. Boasting nifty obstacle-avoidance capabilities (a bit like a Roomba vacuum cleaner), the little robot can carry out deliveries within a 20 kilometres radius.
There’s no word yet on what built-in defences it’ll have to ward off drunken punters, but DRU is penciled in for future deployment in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan and Germany. Providing the project passes tests with Australian regulators, DRU could be rolled out on the streets of Queensland in the near future.
Add DRU to the Domino’s easy order button and we are truly living in the future. We’ve reached peak pizza, and it’s blooming awesome.
Although all this change does beg one final question: how do you tip a robot?
