Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s a drone with your coffee! Tech giant IBM last month patented the technology that enables a drone to identify when workers need coffee and to deliver it to them at their desk.
The use of drones in the workplace is not new – autonomous vehicles are widely used in industries such as oil and gas and agriculture. However IBM’s quirky vision has set people wondering just how far we can take the use of drones in the workplace.
Multiple concepts have been explored including:
- The drone pouring coffee directly into the worker’s mug
- Drinks being delivered in a sealed bag to stop boiling hot drips
- Employees waving down the drone for another brew
- The cup being attached to the drone by string and the string being cut when the drone can feel it being pulled away by a worker
The exact patent describes how the drone will fly into an area of workers and analyse each employee’s “cognitive state” by monitoring factors such as blood pressure, pupil dilation and facial expressions to determine whether they are in need of a caffeine fix. It also suggests this could be combined with an individual’s work schedule and the time the woke up that day!
Although the patent has been filed, there is no news as to whether IBM plans to develop this drone. We for one can’t wait to find out!
For those interested, you can read the full patent here.
