Gamers in Shanghai were able to download a link to a video game by scanning a giant QR code created in the sky above the Chinese city by a formation of more than 1,500 drones with their smartphone... More
Drone delivery ready to take off in the UK — Worldpay — “Worldpay’s Drone Pay proof-of-concept uses EMV contactless payment card technology to verify the identity of the recipient, ensuring a parcel is delivered to the right person at the right address. This technology is embedded into a drone landing pad, which is issued to the customer in the form of a doormat. When the drone lands to drop off the package, the card details stored within the doormat are read automatically. If the information matches that of the correct recipient, the parcel is released.”
Walmart files patent applications for drone shopping assistants and smart shopping carts — The Verge — “One of the patents is clearly for the in-store experience, and proposes a sensing device to make shopping carts smart and communicate with a mobile device… There’s also a patent that tracks users through wearables, and several for managing/sensing inventory levels. Walmart has also filed a patent for drones that would assist customers shopping in-store… There are also two patents for autonomous tech. One outlines a method for detecting items placed in a container.”
Drones relay RFID signals for inventory control — MIT — “MIT researchers have now developed a system that enables small, safe, aerial drones to read RFID tags from tens of meters away while identifying the tags’ locations with an average error of about 19 centimeters. The researchers envision that the system could be used in large warehouses for both continuous monitoring, to prevent inventory mismatches, and location of individual items, so that employees can rapidly and reliably meet customer requests.”
Online retail giant Amazon has begun trials in the UK of a package delivery system using autonomous drones, which aims to deliver goods to customers within 30 minutes... More