A fundamental component of MapMerge is the access rights of drones, robots and avatars. There needs to be a global rights system and it works best as part of a 3D digital map.

Drones are guaranteed to quickly become commonplace – all we are waiting for is a decent capacity to deliver loads, and regulations to suit. They are most likely to fly (rather than drive) as the main obstacles will be other drones, and air traffic control systems should be able to keep them apart. Most likely there will be one-way highways at certain heights, complete with virtual on and off ramps. Not unlike jumbo jets circling Heathrow.

Those heights will need to be a trade-off between efficiency and annoyance. Certainly 20m above us is too close, and 2km above us is too inefficient.

The other concern is when the drones land, especially if they were to make residential deliveries. To land outside someone’s home means to pretty much descend through the air above that home. And while it is descending it will be able to look down on neighbouring homes.

Rather than using real-time photography for navigation, I suggest a recent 3D digital map. It will already be in digital form making the task easier for the drone. It won’t show anything that is happening right now. And people or vehicles can be filtered out. And MapMerge becomes more valuable!

Authorised delivery drones will be given certain rights, such as the ability to take the shortest route from a sky highway to a delivery address. So that we know they are authorised, they will need to be identifiable. Given that physical identities (like a license plate) are too easy to fake, I suggest a virtual overlay in the Real. Anyone with a headset will be able to get verification that the drone is authorised and that it is travelling with permission.

If a drone is not authorised, you will be able to contact a real person from a government department to double check. They will be able to see your visuals and the co-ordinates of the drone via your headset. If it is illegal they will send out enforcer drones to capture it. If you feel threatened you might be able to shoot it down with a shotgun?

Using MapMerge means that adjustments to permissions can be made on the fly. If a protest march spontaneously occurs, police can forbid drones from travelling through nearby airspace.

People waiting on a delivery can watch the drones in the Real, and perhaps even see what the drone sees. The drone will see a virtual world, other drones, and Things.

I’m not sure how drones will operate in built-up CBDs. They could land at designated parking spots (like those currently designated for delivery vehicles only). And they could transfer their bounty to a wheeled robot, or perhaps the drones can travel on the ground as well. But then we might get into congestion issues with pedestrians…