After the Internet and ecommerce, the cyber world is getting ready for the Matternet revolution. In ecommerce, orders can be placed online, but goods will have to be physically delivered and human intervention is essential. How will it be if goods are delivered by unmanned, automated vehicles that can just fly to any remote place? Sounds like a fairy tale? Well, this is exactly what Matternet is striving to achieve in the near future. Can we call it automated e-commerce?

The concept was born when a group of students got together for their 2011 summer project at Singularity University. The aim is to develop an alternative to road transportation by creating a network of electric autonomous aerial vehicles in developing nations so that supplies as well as people can be transported from one place to another without any hassles. One group came up with this idea when the Singularity University challenged a motley crowd of engineers, entrepreneurs, hackers and others to find a solution to the poverty problem around the world. Other groups focused on energy, space, security, health and education.

As many as one billion people live in rural areas without access to all-season roads. This means that they do not have access to food, medication and other supplies when required. In the case of some remote places, it can take up to even a month to get an HIV blood test done. However, for Matternet’s concept to become a reality, a paradigm shift in thinking will be required and say, are roads really essential to reach food and other supplies to people in remotest parts of the world?

Matternet’s system is inspired by drones or unmanned aerial vehicles that are controlled from the ground or autonomously follow a pre-programmed mission. Drones have been put to use in Afghanistan and Iraq for reconnaissance as well as strikes at targets.

The Matternet is to be developed in three stages: the prototype that can carry a payload of 1 to 2 kilograms, those that can carry up to 200 kilograms and then those capable of handling up to 1000 kilograms. The prototype can handle 1 to 2 kilograms of goods, but its autonomous capability is yet to be established.