Every time an Amazon delivery driver drops off a parcel at my door, they whip out their phone and take a photo of it. And if I happen to be holding the package already, I pose with it, like a 1960s catalogue model desperate to make their big break. I'm telling you this because I rather enjoy the running joke, which may soon be ruined by the Amazon Amelia smart glasses.
Amazon has shown off the latest prototype of its AI-enhanced smart specs, designed to provide delivery drivers with not only a built-in camera (activated with a handy vest button) for delivery confirmation photos, but also a HUD that looks remarkably similar to the Fallout UI, complete with the iconic shade of neon green.
Amazon says the heads-up display can provide navigation details, flag hazards, and help drivers keep track of delivery tasks (via BBC News). The HUD is turned off while said delivery driver is on the road, you'll be pleased to hear, but automatically activates as soon as they're safely parked at their delivery location.
Delivery workers can then take advantage of the turn-by-turn navigation feature to guide them to the correct door, which looks a whole lot like a minimap in the videos. The retail giant says it has consulted with delivery drivers during the development process to gain feedback as to how to implement these features, and according to one test subject, the glasses are indeed great:
"I felt safer the whole time because the glasses have the info right in my field of view," says Kaleb M, a delivery driver working in Omaha, Nebraska. "Instead of having to look down at a phone, you can keep your eyes forward and look past the display—you're always focused on what's ahead."
Safety is one thing, but productivity also appears to be one of the main goals, as Amazon estimates that the glasses could gain up to 30 minutes worth of efficiencies per eight to 10 hour shift by minimising repetitive tasks and helping drivers to locate packages.
Amazon has been criticised in the past for patenting wristbands that can detect if employees are slacking off, so it's unsurprising that this latest tech also seems to have efficiency gains in mind.
Perhaps it might be able to tell them the most efficient time to urinate in a bottle? Anyway, there are obvious privacy concerns regarding wearable camera tech, too. Beyond the privacy of the drivers themselves (Amazon does say that a hardware switch allows them to turn the glasses off at will), I'm not sure how I'd feel about every delivery potentially resulting in an unauthorised, HUD-overlaid photo of both me and my house, even if I am usually willing to pose for an ill-advised bit.
There's also something undeniably dystopian about employees wearing work-enhancing tech, turning themselves into something of a delivery cyborg. Sure, it may well have some benefits for the drivers themselves, but it's fairly easy to imagine a future where donning the all-seeing glasses becomes a requirement, rather than an optional way to enhance their safety.
On the other hand, if the Amazon Amelia glasses were able to capture, say, a customer being abusive towards an employee in a way that might require criminal prosecution, that might be of real benefit to their safety overall. On a similar point, a dedicated emergency button has already been integrated into the system, allowing drivers to reach emergency services along their routes if required.
Amazon also says that it anticipates future versions of the glasses to be capable of providing real-time defect detection, where they can tell if a parcel has mistakenly been dropped off at the wrong address. I have lost many parcels to this very "defect". So perhaps there are real benefits to both driver and parcel recipient after all.
Gah, it's a minefield. All that being said, something about these employee-enhancing smart glasses gives me a very distinctive ick, like it's a step too far in our late-stage-capitalist, dystopia-to-go future. They're just in the test phase for now, but I've got a feeling it won't be too long before something similar starts turning up on a doorstep near you.
I do like the little overlaid pawprint next to the address to warn of a potential pooch, though. It's not Dogmeat, is it? I haven't seen that very, very good boy in many years. Time to boot up Fallout 4, I think. If we're doing dystopian futures, that's more my sort of speed. Fictional, if you were wondering.
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