It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie: a drone delivering beer to guests at a music festival. More than 150 guests at the OppiKoppi music festival in South Africa in August received free cold brews via drone. The initiative was a partnership of Darkwing Aerials, Windhoek Beer, and festival organizers. Guests ordered the beer using an app on their smartphones; staff received the orders and loaded parachute-equipped, single servings of beer (with a lid) onto the drone. Once in the air, the drone used the GPS coordinates of the phone that placed the order to navigate to its destination, where the single beer would drop and parachute down to the waiting recipient. The only area of the festival that was off limits for deliveries was the main stage, where the dense crowd made it too risky to drop beer from the sky. Darkwing Aerials owner Dean Engela said they intend to try the service at future events, using more than one drone to serve guests.
At South by Southwest Interactive in March, 3M wowed guests with a holographic virtual presenter. “Jenny” could sense people passing by and would speak and gesture to them, offering information about panels and events and inviting them to interact with an iPad displayed in front of her.
