We all know a future where self-driving cars deliver you pizza isn't far away, but now Domino's and Ford have an announcement that provides that future sooner, rather than later.
In a joint press release, the two companies said that they are working together on delivering fresh-from-the-oven pizzas using Ford's own self-driving Fusion test vehicles. Ann Arbor, Michigan is the first testing ground for self-driving pizza deliveries, letting customers track their hot pizza from the store to their front door using GPS and a modified version of Domino's Tracker.
Hungry customers will get a text once the self-driving car is out the front, with a unique code just for their order that will open up Domino's Heatwave Compartment, and inside of that compartment, will be their hot pizza.
Ford's VP of Autonomous Vehicles and Electrification, Sherif Marakby, said: "The initial focus of our research together is understanding the last 50 feet of the delivery experience. What that means is we will be looking at how customers respond to this new experience, which will require them to interact with the self-driving car instead of a delivery person - walking out to the vehicle instead of just walking to answer their front door".
This isn't a fully autonomous pizza delivery, but it's a big first step. We should expect fully autonomous pizza deliveries inside of 10 years, which is incredibly exciting as the lazy part of me is screaming 'yes, yes, YES!'
