The #CityofTomorrow may potentially hold a very special delivery from #Ford and @Dominos. #pizzautonomy?? https://t.co/vhFb6qFYHA
— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) August 29, 2017
Back in the old days, you used to walk into the local pizza place to place a take-out order—like some kind of Neanderthal. Then you realized you could simply phone them up and have a pizza delivered to your home. Domino's has been delivering since it was founded in 1960.
Domino's Pizza has always kept up with the times. Today, you can not only place a delivery order online, you can place a delivery by texting them an emoji of a pizza.
In a few years, Domino's may make the next logical leap—autonomous pizza delivery.
"As delivery experts, we've been watching the development of self-driving vehicles with great interest as we believe transportation is undergoing fundamental, dramatic change," said Patrick Doyle, Domino's president and CEO. This month, Domino's will be making its first deliveries in a self-driving Ford Fusion Hybrid as part of a test.
Ford wants to know if there is a market for its autonomous vehicles in the food industry, and Domino's wants to know if customers will respond well to a self-driving delivery vehicle, instead of a human. The collaborative test this month will go a long way in developing better self-driving technology.