Smart glasses enable fast delivery 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've been delivered.

Online retailer Amazon is developing new smart glasses for shippers to speed up deliveries, Reuters reports. The glasses can show them exactly where to go in a building, such as turning directions, and take photos of packages after they are 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.

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

If the tests prove successful, Amazon may expand the use of 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 will be available in the next few years.

There are still a few challenges Amazon faces, including creating a battery with enough capacity for a shift lasting several hours, and collecting enough location data for the glasses to guide workers.

Like Meta and Snap, Amazon has been developing smart glasses for consumers. In 2019, they launched Echo Frames , smart glasses equipped with the Alexa voice assistant.

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 on which packages to deliver at specific stops, starting as early as 2025.

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

Ambition to deliver "now and always"

As of July 2024, Amazon announced it had delivered 5 billion items to Prime members globally on the same or next day, up 30% year-over-year.

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

Amazon is also opening additional facilities designed to deliver orders, including those made through Amazon Prime, the same day they are placed rather than the next day.