Report: Amazon is developing smart glasses for its delivery drivers

Amazon.com Inc. is growing a pair of sensible glasses meant to make its supply drivers extra productive, Reuters reported as we speak.

The undertaking is alleged to be often known as Amelia internally.

The upcoming system is reportedly based mostly on the consumer-focused Echo Frames sensible glasses that Amazon launched in 2020. The latter product is presently in its third iteration. The newest model, which debuted final yr, contains a lighter design and an extended battery life than the 2 earlier generations.

Amazon has geared up the Echo Frames with an Alexa integration that enables customers to verify the climate, set timers and carry out a variety of duties. Amelia, the sensible glasses that Amazon is growing for its drivers, will reportedly add a tiny embedded show to one of many lenses. The plan is to make use of the show to indicate turn-by-turn navigation directions to the wearer.

Amazon reportedly envisions its drivers utilizing the system for a number of duties. In accordance with Reuters, the built-in navigation system will assist the wearer attain supply stops sooner. At every cease, the system will present help with duties similar to avoiding obstacles and figuring out the place to go after stepping out of an elevator.

It’s believed Amazon additionally plans to equip the sensible glasses with a digicam. The aim is to let drivers {photograph} delivered packages for purchasers.

Creating the glasses might take years, in accordance with Reuters. One purpose is the issue of constructing a battery that’s each compact and might final an eight-hour shift. Moreover, the glasses’ onboard navigation software program is predicted to require intensive mapping knowledge, which might take a number of years to gather.

At the moment’s report didn’t element the system’s different parts. The onboard navigation system and digicam might require extra processing energy than the consumer-grade Echo Frames, which hints that Amazon might add a sooner chip. Nevertheless, sensible glasses’ compact kind issue typically makes it tough to accommodate a sophisticated processor and its supporting parts.

Amazon might theoretically package deal the upcoming system’s processing parts right into a wearable companion module, presumably along with the battery. That’s an strategy some combined actuality headset makers have taken with their gadgets. Alternatively, the glasses may depend on the consumer’s smartphone for processing. The Echo Frames can already connect with the wearer’s handset through Bluetooth.

The tech big reportedly hopes that its upcoming glasses will allow drivers to go to extra stops per shift by easing navigation. Moreover, the gadget might allow the wearer to hold extra packages by eradicating the necessity to use a handheld GPS system.

At the moment’s report cautioned that the undertaking could also be canceled or delayed within the occasion that it encounters important technical obstacles. But when the know-how works, it’s believed Amazon might deliver the embedded show to the Echo Frames. The function is predicted to grow to be obtainable within the second quarter of 2026.

Amazon can also be growing different new applied sciences to spice up driver productiveness. Final month, it detailed a synthetic intelligence system known as VAPR that may be put in in supply vans. The system shines a inexperienced “O” on the packages that ought to be dropped off at a given cease and a crimson “X” on the opposite parcels. 

Picture: Amazon