Amazon may be building smart glasses to help drivers deliver faster

Amazon is developing smart eyeglasses for its delivery drivers to guide m to, around and within buildings, as it tries to smooth final stretch of an order's journey to a customer's home, five people familiar with matter said. If successful, glasses would provide drivers with turn-by-turn navigation on a small embedded screen, along ir routes and at each stop, according to people, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anymity because project is t public.

Such directions could shave valuable seconds off each delivery by providing left or right directions off elevators and around obstacles such as gates or aggressive dogs.

With millions of packs delivered daily, seconds d up. glasses would also free drivers from using handheld Global Positioning System devices, allowing m to carry more packs. project underscores online seller's efforts to reduce delivery costs per pack and support margins as it fights increased competition from Walmart, which has stepped up its e-commerce efforts and cut prices. Walmart is paying independent delivery drivers new incentives to deliver online orders during holiday season, retailer told Reuters.

Amazon's delivery glasses, people warned, could be shelved or delayed indefinitely if y do t work as envisioned, or for financial or or reasons. sources said y may take years to perfect.

“We are continuously invating to create an even safer and better delivery experience for drivers," an Amazon spokesperson said, when asked about driver eyeglasses. "We orwise don’t comment on our product romap.”

Amazon has worked for years to develop an in-house delivery network, including its own airline, long-haul trucking and sprawling suburban warehouses. In doing so, it hopes to speed deliveries and pare expenses by reducing its reliance on couriers UPS and FedEx.

Amazon's shipping costs rose 8 per cent in third quarter to $23.5 billion.

Last 100 yards

"last mile" for deliveries is costly and complicated because it requires navigating neighbourhoods, deploying more couriers and using more fuel. By some estimates, half cost of a product's trip to a customer's doorstep lies in last mile. w Amazon has focused its attention on "last 100 yards" (91 metres). In October, it unveiled a scanner it will install on delivery van ceilings to direct drivers to packs for each stop by shining a green spotlight on m, saving time usually spent reing labels.

delivery glasses in development build on Amazon's Echo Frames smart glasses, which allow users to listen to audio and use voice commands from Alexa, Amazon's virtual assistant, people said. Kwn by internal code name Amelia, delivery glasses would rely on a small display on one of lenses and could take photos of delivered packs as proof for customers, sources said. Amazon released in September an unrelated chatbot for third-party sellers that is also kwn as Amelia.

But techlogy is still in development and Amazon has h trouble making a battery that can last a full eight-hour shift, and still be light eugh to wear all day without causing fatigue, people said. As well, garing complete data on each house, sidewalk, street, curb and driveway could take years, y said.

Delivery drivers visit more than 100 customers per shift, Amazon has said. With increased efficiency, Amazon could ask drivers to ferry more packs and visit more homes.

Seattle company could face or obstacles, including convincing its thousands of drivers to use eyeglasses, which may be uncomfortable, distracting or unsightly, people said, t to mention fact some drivers alrey wear corrective glasses.

However, much of Amazon's delivery force consists of outside companies, meaning Amazon could make wearing glasses a contractual requirement, people said.

Sales of company's consumer wearable Echo Frames have been disappointing. Two of people said Amazon h sold fewer than 10,000 units of most recent generation, released late last year.

embedded screen in development is also slated for a future generation of Echo Frames that could be released as soon as 2026's second quarter, two of people said.