Inside Amazon’s Plan to Cut Delivery Time with Smart Glasses for Drivers

In Focus

• Amazon has unveiled a prototype of its smart delivery glasses
• Smart glasses are designed to give drivers hands-free experience
• Amazon seeks to reduce delivery time for its drivers

e-Commerce giant Amazon has unveiled a prototype of Amelia, the smart glasses for delivery drivers. According to TechCrunch, Amazon’s delivery smart glasses will give drivers a hands-free experience, eliminating the need to keep checking their phones, their surroundings and the delivery packages.

Amazon’s Efforts to Reduce Delivery Time

News about Amazon’s move to design smart eyeglasses for use by drivers emerged last year as the company sought to ensure smooth delivery of customer orders. Amazon’s logistics automation is expected to reduce time spent in each delivery by guiding drivers with detailed directions and informing them about hazards in their line of sight.

“We’re testing it at a number of locations with over a dozen delivery service partners and hundreds of drivers across the country,” Amazon’s VP of Transportation Beryl Tomay said.

The smart delivery driver glasses come with:

• AI-powered sensing capabilities to boost driver efficiency
• Cameras for detecting hazards and guiding drivers
• A built-in display that enables drivers to scan packages
• A wearable controller that enables drivers to capture delivered packages

These features allow drivers to record proof of delivery and follow directions turn-by-turn without using phones.

How Amazon Uses AI for Delivery

According to Amazon, its smart glasses for logistics activate automatically when a driver parks at a delivery location. They help drivers in locating packages inside the vehicle and navigate them to the delivery address. In business locations and places that have multi-unit apartment complexes, the glasses give drivers simple directions.

Amazon has paired the smart glasses with a controller that drivers wear in the delivery vest. The controller comes with operational controls, an emergency button, and a swappable battery The waistcoat pairing capabilities allows drivers to capture photos of delivered packages.

Amazon says that in future, its wearable technology in logistics will offer drivers real-time defect detection to notify them when they deliver packages to the wrong address. The smart glasses will also detect pets and adjust to hazards like low light automatically.

Amazon Glasses will Enhance Delivery Efficiency

Amazon’s Amelia glasses are designed to augment efficiency in its delivery network. The glasses can detect when the vehicle starts moving and shut off automatically. The company says this enhances driver safety by reducing distractions.

The company estimates that by reducing repetitive tasks and enabling drivers to locate packages faster in vehicles, the smart glasses could enhance delivery efficiencies by up to 30 minutes in every 8 to 10 hour shift.

Last year, Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses sparked a wave of FOMO among big techs after they became best sellers in the majority of Ray-Ban stores in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. At the time, sales topped 1 million units, motivating rivals to develop their own smart glasses.

A Sneak Preview of Amazon Delivery Smart Glasses:

• The smart glasses leverage AI to enhance delivery logistics
• Amazon says the smart glasses could save drivers up to 30 minutes per shift
• Smart glasses can scan customer packages
• Amazon plans to take the glasses to drivers globally in future

Amazon Joins the Smart Glasses Races

Amazon is the latest tech company in the U.S to enter the AI-powered wearables industry. Social media giant Meta has been working with EssilorLuxottica to introduce new features in smart glasses and expand production. Meta collaborated with the manufacturer to produce the glasses in its quest to lead the smart glasses industry.

Amazon has designed the smart glasses for its delivery drivers, and not the mass market. The company is testing the smart glasses and plans to make them available to drivers globally in future.

Amazon also launched an AI-powered robotic arm designed to sort parcels in warehouses faster and with greater accuracy. The company says that with this robot, it will reduce injuries in warehouses, maximize space, and enhance efficiency by generating suggestions for workers.

“It pulls in historical and real-time data across a building to anticipate bottlenecks and keep operations running smoothly,” said the company.