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DelivAir Wants More Direct Drone Deliveries

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We’ve reported on all sorts of drone delivery companies and technologies, from UPS and its drone-deploying delivery trucks, to Amazon’s train-mounted drone hub patent as well as their fulfillment centers, to cheeky marketing events like Costa Coffee’s beverage deliveries on a Dubai beach. DeliVair is another unmanned aerial vehicle-based delivery company that can be added to that list. The only difference is, this company wants to toss aside the need for a delivery address or a designated delivery zone. The address is you, the consumer, and located by your smartphone.

Thus far, there are a few limiting problems drone delivery companies need to address when strategizing on the best consumer experience, namely, having to be at an official address. Cambridge Consultants wants to circumvent this with their delivery system, by using your smartphone as a location beacon, rather than relying on registered addresses. If you’re in a park, for example, and your friends really need some more chips and salsa, this would come in handy.

With the DelivAir app, the drone tracks you via GPS and your smartphone signal, requesting location updates while the UAV approaches beyond sight, according to Engadget. When in visual range, you simply raise your phone into the sky while it blinks a pattern that confirms to the UAV that you are, indeed, the correct recipient. Once the drone has arrived, it hovers above you and lowers the package via winch, which you unhook upon successfully receiving the item. That’s it! The drone zips back to whence it came and that’s that.

Let's see how it works, shall we?

Head of the industrial and energy business at Cambridge Consultants Nathan Wrench believes firmly in this product, stating it could change the landscape of consumerism, according to Engadget.

“Drone delivery is fast and ideal for something that is needed immediately. In that case, a consumer wants a delivery directly to them as a person, not to a location," Wrench said. "Our DelivAir concept has the potential to revolutionize the delivery process by removing the address restriction that other drone technologies are limited by.”

With so many companies competing for the perfect drone delivery system, we are sure to see a wide variety of approaches. DelivAir seems promising, and is, at least conceptually, completely feasible. The technology is there, drones are fairly affordable, and this kind of business is sure to impress enough people to make a name for itself.

However, there are a lot of these companies clamoring to get a foothold here, and we’ll simply have to wait and see which ones work and which were merely good ideas in the run-up to drone-filled skies. Stay tuned.


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