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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Amazon is developing smart delivery glasses.
- They can help identify hazards and make it easier to find packages.
- Customers’ deliveries should also be improved.
AI-powered smart glasses are having a moment, with Meta adding several new pairs to its collection in September at Meta Connect and Samsung teasing its upcoming pair a few weeks ago. However, the AI smart glasses on the market have catered toward the general consumer, while the ones Amazon has launched have a different purpose: optimizing deliveries.
During its “Delivering the Future” event in San Francisco last month, Amazon unveiled its smart delivery glasses, designed to help delivery associates deliver packages more safely and efficiently, which in turn improves customer delivery experiences.
Also: Your Amazon deliveries are getting 3 major upgrades this fall – here’s what’s new
The glasses can scan packages, display turn-by-turn walking directions, and capture an image of the delivery hands-free, helping drivers stay focused and avoid reaching for their phones. Powering it all is AI and machine learning.
The glasses use AI-powered sensing, computer vision, and a camera to create a “heads-up display” that can showcase navigation details, hazards, and delivery tasks, as stated in the release. As seen in the screenshot above, the in-lens display appears to function similarly to the in-lens displays found on the Even Reality smart glasses.
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For example, the glasses automatically populate delivery information, such as address and number of packages, within the driver’s field of view as soon as they park safely outside the delivery. The smart glasses also enable them to locate the package in the truck, displaying different alerts when the package is identified.
I had the chance to try out the glasses at the event, and the in-lens display shows the text exactly as pictured. Then, with the controller in my pocket, I was able to go from one page to another, shifting from just seeing the address and customer notes to the package verification page and, lastly, the step-by-step navigation.
