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Amazon is exploring new ways to optimize its delivery operations, unveiling a prototype of AI-powered smart glasses called "Amelia" for its drivers. The glasses, which include a camera and display, sync with a waistcoat that allows drivers to quickly take photos of deliveries. Amazon's Beryl Tomay, VP of Transportation, said the company is "testing it at a number of locations with over a dozen delivery service partners and hundreds of drivers across the country.”
Amazon is the latest US tech giant to enter an increasingly crowded field of firms experimenting with wearables, but for now it is a product meant for drivers, not customers. Although Amazon is still experimenting with the product, it plans to eventually make the smart glasses available to drivers first in North America, then globally.
Ms Tomay said that drivers "have been doing real deliveries with these" to customers.
"We custom designed it for that use case," she added. "There's a very specific application here."
Amazon also unveiled a robotic arm which it said is designed to work alongside warehouse employees to sort parcels with greater speed and accuracy. The robot, which has been in use at a warehouse in South Carolina, will help reduce injuries and maximise the use of space in Amazon's warehouses, the firm said.
Amazon is also preparing to roll out an artificial intelligence (AI) system in its warehouses to manage operations and provide workers with suggestions for improving efficiency.
"It pulls in historical and real-time data across a building to anticipate bottlenecks and keep operations running smoothly," said the company.
Instagram and Facebook-owner Meta has also experimented with smart glasses in recent years. At its Meta Connect conference last month, the company unveiled a range of smart glasses powered by its Meta AI technology, including a pair of Ray-Bans with a built-in display.
Unlike Amazon, Meta's smart glasses target the mainstream consumer products market. Meta presented the hardware as a technology that allows users to remain more engaged in the real world compared to smartphones.
For Amazon, the Amelia smart glasses could augment efficiency in the "last mile" of its delivery network.
