'Like something out of Top Gun' - The hi-tech Amazon glasses which you soon may be able to spot in Yorkshire
It seems like something out of a Top Gun film. The pilot, or in this case the van driver, dons a pair of hi-tech spectacles.
With them, he or she can see messages beamed onto the lens of the glasses, warning perhaps of a dog at the next drop off point or perhaps detailing a place where the parcel should be left at the customer’s request.
This is Amazon 2025. The company is getting ready to bring this and a number of other startling breakthroughs to Yorkshire and the rest of the UK.
It will benefit the staff at the numerous Amazon fulfilment centres – the company’s name for warehouses – either in Yorkshire or which serve parts of Yorkshire at Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Stockton and Darlington.
Viraj Chatterjee, Amazon’s vice-president, said these glasses which appear at first glance to be conventional spectacles would have a major impact on safety and efficiency.
He said they had already proved popular with the staff that had tried them out and they would be rolled out to markets including Yorkshire soon.
They allow the driver to see a wealth of information hands-free. The devices only power-up when the van stops.
They are fitted with neutral lenses but prescription ones can be fitted if required. And they can be photochromic to filter out sunlight.
Drivers won’t be forced to use them but he hopes the vast majority will see the benefit of them.
“We have done a lot of research into them,” he said. “We have spoken to associates (staff) who have had a major input and early indications are that they will be successful.
“They are being rolled out around the globe so I imagine they will be in Yorkshire soon, but I can’t say exactly when at the moment.”
One of the drivers told press that he loved the glasses but that customers had barely noticed them.
“They’re more concerned that their parcel arrives on time and in good condition,” he said. “One of the customers thought I’d got new glasses but didn’t realise how technical they were.”