AIr Runner
This video is one of the outcomes of a research and development project commissioned by Postnord and Telia. The purpose of this project was to explore possibilities and challenges around autonomous drone delivery in remote areas through mobile network connectivity. Different scenarios representing different business models and interactions across stakeholders were staged as way to visualise multiple possibilities that new technologies can enable —the video above, for instance, visualise a possible P2P interaction that could be used by local businesses and households in the countryside.
The budget for the exploration was limited and all the technological and aesthetic features intentionally reduced to the basics. The purpose of staging and rehearsing these scenarios is, in fact, not to only to proof engineering feasibly or the quality of end-results, but to prototype concepts, challenge previous assumptions and question ideas. Through the staging, opportunities and problems around the future introduction and interaction of automated systems in their context of use quickly emerged, offering the audience —a mix professionals from different disciplines and backgrounds— the means to understand what does it means to really make an autonomous machine to operate 'in the wild', the social, technical and regulatory challenges it entails, as well as the means to evaluate future directions and roadmaps.
