Key takeaways
- Amazon is developing smart delivery glasses to help Delivery Associates (DAs) identify hazards, seamlessly navigate to customer’s doorsteps, and improve customer deliveries.
- The wearable system was designed and optimized with input from hundreds of DAs, drivers who work for Delivery Service Partners (DSPs).
- The devices implement advanced computer vision processing and AI integration for seamless driver experiences.
Every day, DAs connect millions of customers with their packages, navigating neighborhoods with precision and care. Our goal is to continually explore new and innovative ways that can make their experience as safe and seamless as possible.
Since we launched the Delivery Service Partner program in 2018, we’ve used technology to support the DA experience, whether that’s in dedicated simulation training to prepare them for real-world delivery experiences, investments in package handling processes, or improved navigation. We’ve built an entire system of technology to support drivers throughout the end-to-end delivery journey.
Now, Amazon is adding to that system by introducing smart delivery glasses—wearable technology that makes the DA experience even safer and more seamless. Designed specifically for DAs, these glasses help them scan packages, follow turn-by-turn walking directions, and capture proof of delivery—all without the use of their phone. The glasses create a hands-free experience, reducing the need to look between the phone, the package, and the surrounding area.
Technology at work: AI and machine learning make deliveries safer and more intuitive
Amazon’s smart glasses leverage AI-powered sensing capabilities and computer vision, along with cameras to create a heads-up display that includes everything from navigation details to hazards to delivery tasks. When drivers safely park at a delivery location, the glasses automatically activate and the DA is given their delivery information—right in their field of view—starting with locating the right packages inside their vehicles to the corresponding homes.
The display then offers walking turn-by-turn navigation to the delivery address, using Amazon’s geospatial technology to guide drivers to the exact delivery location without having to check their phone. If there are hazards, or a need to navigate complex environments like apartment buildings, the glasses will guide DAs safely to their destination.
Technology for comfort: Physical materials and driver feedback create glasses for all-day use
Throughout the development process, we turned to the experts—drivers themselves—to get it right. Hundreds of DAs tested early versions of the glasses and provided crucial feedback. Their insights shaped everything from the glasses’ comfort for all day use to the clarity of the displays.
“I felt safer the whole time because the glasses have the info right in my field of view,” explains Kaleb M., a DA working for Maddox Logistics Corporation in Omaha, Nebraska, who tested the technology. “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.”
The glasses feature a small controller worn in the delivery vest that contains operational controls, a swappable battery ensuring all-day use, and a dedicated emergency button to reach emergency services along their routes if needed. The glasses also support prescription lenses along with transitional lenses that automatically adjust to light.
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Technology for the future: Building a full delivery system
As we continue refining the technology, we’re leveraging the latest advancements in AI to create an end-to-end system where technology supports an even safer and more seamless delivery experience along every step of their journey—from inside our delivery stations, to over the road, to the last hundred yards to a customer’s doorstep.
We anticipate future versions of the glasses will provide real-time defect detection, where the glasses can help notify drivers if they’ve mistakenly dropped a package at a customer doorstep that does not correspond with the house or apartment number on the package, detect hazards like low light and adjust the lenses, notify that there’s a pet in the yard, and more.
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The smart glasses are just one step in our broader effort to innovate in the last-mile delivery process—creating solutions that improve safety and the overall work experience for the DAs who bring smiles to customers’ doors every day.
Next, learn about Blue Jay and Project Eluna, Amazon's latest robotics and AI technology, designed with front-line employees in mind.
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