Smart glasses help shippers deliver packages quickly to “every corner”

The new glasses can show shippers exactly where to go in a building, such as turning directions, and take photos of packages after they’re delivered.

According to Reuters, online retailer Amazon is developing a new smart glass model for shippers to speed up deliveries. The glasses can show them exactly where to go in a building, such as turning directions, and take photos of packages after they’re delivered.

Illustration of new smart glasses (AI-generated image) – (Photo: gagadget.com).

Specifically, the new glasses will give shippers the ability to navigate each turn along the route and at each stop. The information will be displayed on a small screen built into the glasses instead of on a smartphone or other handheld device. This will help Amazon employees carry more packages and save delivery time.

Currently, the company is testing the glasses on a limited scale, gathering feedback and improving the technology before mass integration.

If the tests prove successful, Amazon could expand the glasses to all delivery drivers. So far, an Amazon representative has not commented on the device’s launch date or cost, but preliminary data suggests the glasses could be available in the next few years.

There are still a few challenges Amazon faces, including creating a battery that can last for several hours of work, and collecting enough location data for the glasses to guide workers.

Like Meta and Snap, Amazon has been working on smart glasses for consumers. In 2019, it released Echo Frames, smart glasses powered by the Alexa voice assistant.

The Echo Frames don’t have a camera or screen, but they do have built-in microphones and speakers, and according to Reuters, Amazon is using them as the basis for its latest version of the glasses.

Amazon is also planning to add AI technology that will help guide delivery drivers to which packages to drop off at specific stops, starting in early 2025.

Customizable buttons on the new smart glasses – (Image cut from Amazon clip).

Aspirations for “instant” delivery

As of July 2024, Amazon said it had delivered 5 billion items to Prime members globally on the same or next day, up 30% from the same period last year.

In October 2024, Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s chief financial officer, said the company’s fast delivery times are making it more appealing for customers to order low-cost, everyday items, such as beauty products and non-perishable groceries.

Amazon is also opening more facilities designed to deliver items, including Amazon Prime orders, the same day they are placed, rather than the next day.