I’VE had a go with the hi-tech Amazon glasses that turn delivery drivers into superheroes.
This week, Amazon showed off its new Delivery Glasses that give you sci-fi “computer vision” – and honestly? They’re pretty cool.
Amazon invited me to one of the company’s giant delivery hubs in California to try a pair on.
The official line is that they help drivers to “identify hazards, seamlessly navigate to customer’s doorsteps, and improve customer deliveries”.
They do this through by pairing a camera and a display system, both of which are mounted into the glasses.
And they really do look like glasses.
They’re not exactly high fashion, but they felt pretty light and didn’t look too strange on my noggin.
Importantly, they were comfortable. That matters, as Amazon drivers will likely be donning these for hours at a time.
When the glasses are off, they’re just regular glasses. You can fit them with prescription lenses, and they’ll tint in response to light like transition lenses.
But once they’re switched on, you’re able to see green text and images off to the right side of your view.
It’s hardly an IMAX theatre in there. But the text was bright and easy to read, even against light backgrounds.
And this heads-up display will help you out with a range of delivery-based tasks.
So you can look at packages to scan them, and even view turn-by-turn walking directions to find the exact drop-off point.
“If there are hazards, or a need to navigate complex environments like apartment buildings, the glasses will guide Delivery Associates safely to their destination,” Amazon explained.
Once you’re at the door, you can scan to complete the delivery, and even snap a quick photo of the drop-off point as proof that the package arrived safely.
And all of this happens without touching your phone. It’ll even warn the driver if they’ve delivered to the wrong address. That could spell the end of the nightmare that is packages going missing.
In fact, you don’t touch the glasses either.
Instead, you twist and prod a dial that’s mounted to a delivery vest to scroll through menus and make selections.
There’s also an emergency button for, well, emergencies. I didn’t push it, sorry.
It’s worth noting that the glasses don’t turn on when the van is moving.
This isn’t meant to be a driving aid.
They’ll only switch on once you’re parked up and ready to make a drop-off.
Amazon says that drivers will be able to use a swappable battery system so that they can be worn “all day”.
Another fun perk of the glasses is that they’ll warn the driver about hazards.
I didn’t get to try that because the demo area wasn’t particularly, well hazardous.
But Amazon tells me it’ll warn drivers about possible dangers, like if there’s a dog at the property.
The whole system was easy to use. I was able to get going with absolutely zero experience as a delivery driver for Amazon.
And I can imagine it being very useful when you’re trying to quickly locate and scan packages in a van before a tricky delivery at a complicated apartment block.
Amazon hasn’t revealed how quickly it plans to roll these specs out.
But the company did note that it has already tested the glasses out with hundreds of drivers.
So they might be coming to a driver on a street near you very soon.
And if it means fewer packages go missing, then that’s fine by me.
