In 2017 Disability Rights UK began working with Starship Technologies.
Founded in 2014 the business develops self-driving delivery robots (Personal Delivery Devices). Starship robots are advanced devices that can carry items within a 2-mile (3km) radius in a bid to offer a delivery platform which will form part of new era of instant, on-demand delivery as well as significantly lower the costs of shipments.
Currently Starship’s live operations in the UK are almost exclusively focused on home meal deliveries – however the organisation is interested in exploring wider applications. DR UK's interest in this area is to ensure the best user experience when disabled people access services supplied by Starship robots but also to consider how else this technology can positively impact disabled people.
A spokesperson from Starship said:
"At Starship we passionately believe our technology can benefit people's lives. We wanted to engage people with disabilities for two reasons: firstly, so that we could learn about their particular experiences and challenges first-hand and get their feedback about our product and service; secondly, to educate people about our technology, and answer their questions.
This has been an invaluable learning experience for the company, providing insights into the ways our technology can support independent living and choice for disabled users, and how we could further develop the product. We look forward to continuing to work with DR UK and people with disabilities in the future."
Jason Jaspal from Disability Rights UK said:
"Clearly the way in which consumers services are delivered is changing at a rapid pace and there are many businesses competing in this market on price and speed – DR UK wants to ensure that organisations recognise their responsibility to accessibility and inclusion as well as ensuring disabled people are able to co-produce the services they access."
DR UK and Starship will continue to work together to ensure the feedback from the focus group is responded to.
To learn more about Starship please click here. If you are interested in exploring how Disability Rights UK can help your organisation become more inclusive please email jason.jaspal@disabilityrightsuk.org
