Amazon plans more than 20,000 smart glasses for delivery drivers by the end of next year. Here is what they do and what Amazon says it does with the pictures.
Amazon is putting smart glasses on its delivery drivers and wants more than 20,000 pairs in use by the end of next year. Hundreds of drivers have already tried them. If you order from Amazon, the person who drops off your package may be wearing one.
The glasses show navigation and drop-off instructions right in the driver's field of view. That means less time looking down at a phone or scanner. Amazon says the goal is to make deliveries more efficient.
They also flag problems. A paw-print icon and an audio alert appear when data suggests a pet may be at the address. The glasses also warn the driver if a package is left somewhere that does not match the delivery address.
Hundreds of drivers at more than 300 delivery service partners have used the glasses since last year. These partners are businesses under contract to make deliveries for Amazon. Amazon says the glasses are optional for drivers.
Drivers gave feedback, and Amazon made a change. The computing hardware and battery now sit in a small controller in the delivery vest instead of in the glasses.
Smart glasses have raised privacy concerns, and Amazon says privacy is a priority. The company makes these claims:
These are Amazon's own statements. The material does not say how long a short retention period is.
Amazon has not shared a price, since the glasses are a work tool for drivers and not something sold to shoppers. The material also does not say where the glasses are in use or how the rollout will be split across regions.
Amazon is not alone in pushing technology into the last leg of delivery. Several other parcel carriers are using AI to check delivery photos and find ways to cut costs.
Your Amazon driver may soon wear smart glasses, and Amazon says it blurs faces and plates, skips video and audio, and deletes images after a short time.
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