Lily Jamali<\/span>North America technology correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Amazon has unveiled a prototype of artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses designed to be used by its delivery drivers.<\/p>\n The “Amelia” glasses include a camera and built-in display, and pairs with a waistcoat with a button drivers can press to take photos of deliveries.<\/p>\n “We’re testing it at a number of locations with over a dozen delivery service partners and hundreds of drivers across the country,” said Beryl Tomay, Amazon’s vice president of Transportation, at a launch event in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n Amazon is the latest US tech giant to enter an increasingly crowded field of firms experimenting with wearables, but for now it is a product meant for drivers, not customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Although Amazon is still experimenting with the product, it plans to eventually make the smart glasses available to drivers first in North America, then globally.<\/p>\n Ms Tomay said that drivers “have been doing real deliveries with these” to customers.<\/p>\n “We custom designed it for that use case,” she added. “There’s a very specific application here.”<\/p>\n When asked by the BBC if the Amelia smart glasses might be marketed to consumers at some point in the future, Ms Tomay did not rule out the possibility.<\/p>\n Amazon also unveiled a robotic arm which it said is designed to work alongside warehouse employees to sort parcels with greater speed and accuracy.<\/p>\n The robot, which has been in use at a warehouse in South Carolina, will help reduce injuries and maximise the use of space in Amazon’s warehouses, the firm said.<\/p>\n Amazon is also preparing to roll out an artificial intelligence (AI) system in its warehouses to manage operations and provide workers with suggestions for improving efficiency.<\/p>\n “It pulls in historical and real-time data across a building to anticipate bottlenecks and keep operations running smoothly,” said the company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Instagram and Facebook-owner Meta has also experimented with smart glasses in recent years.<\/p>\n At its Meta Connect conference last month, the company unveiled a range of smart glasses powered by its Meta AI technology, including a pair of Ray-Bans with a built-in display.<\/p>\n Unlike Amazon, Meta’s smart glasses target the mainstream consumer products market.<\/p>\n Meta presented the hardware as a technology that allows users to remain more engaged in the real world compared to smartphones.<\/p>\n For Amazon, the Amelia smart glasses could augment efficiency in the “last mile” of its delivery network.<\/p>\n Ms Tomay said the smart glasses can detect when they are in a moving vehicle, which prompts them to automatically shut off.<\/p>\n “From a safety perspective, we thought that was important. No distractions,” Ms Tomay told a group of reporters at an event in California.<\/p>\n Ms Tomay estimated that the glasses could create up to 30 minutes in efficiencies per 8- to 10-hour shift by minimising repetitive tasks and helping drivers to quickly locate packages in their vehicles.<\/p>\n The smart glasses also include a hardware switch on the controller that lets the driver turn off the glasses and all of its sensors, including the camera and microphone.<\/p>\n Drivers “can choose to keep it off,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Amazon](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/9d37\/live\/6e579b40-afb2-11f0-9245-f1d64a55b2bb.jpg.webp\")
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