Hands-free deliveries: Amazon rolls out AI smart glasses for its drivers

In a quiet warehouse facility outside Seattle, delivery vans idle and drivers ready themselves for their shifts. But tomorrow, some of them might strap on more than just a vest and scanner — they might pull on a pair of smart glasses that could redefine what it means to deliver in the “last mile.”

Amazon has revealed that it is developing AI-powered “smart delivery glasses” for its delivery associates. These aren’t consumer wearables; they’re enterprise tools built from the ground up for the high-stakes world of packages, doorsteps and deadlines.

In Amazon’s telling, the glasses serve as a hands-free interface for critical delivery tasks. When a driver parks, the glasses activate automatically. They show which package to pull from the van, offer turn-by-turn walking directions to the drop-off point, scan and verify the package, and capture proof of delivery — all while the driver’s eyes remain ahead, not down at a phone.

Built atop computer vision and AI sensors, the system promises additional capabilities: spotting hazards (like an unleashed dog), recognizing when a driver is about to drop a package at the wrong address, adapting lens tints to sunlight, supporting prescription lenses — the list reads like workplace sci-fi.

But beneath the slick veneer lies a deeper strategic push. Amazon is wrestling with the cost, complexity and friction of last-mile logistics — the final 100 yards where mistakes and inefficiencies pile up. As one Reuters report put it, the glasses are part of Amazon’s move to shave seconds off each drop-off.

There are questions, of course. How will bulky-wear devices integrate into the fast-moving pace of a delivery shift? Will drivers embrace them or see them as another layer of surveillance disguised as convenience? Amazon says participation for now is optional and the company is collaborating with hundreds of drivers in testing.

It also signals a shift in how Amazon views wearables: from niche consumer gadgetry toward industrial-grade tools that directly affect its core business. Some analysts say this could foreshadow a broader push into augmented-reality devices — both for workers and eventually consumers.

For customers the change may be invisible, but for the drivers and logistics operators it could matter a great deal: fewer wrong drops, clearer directions in large apartment complexes, fewer distracted moments checking a phone. The trade-off? More of the workflow routed though Amazon’s software ecosystem, more eyeballs on previously manual tasks.

In short: Amazon is betting that the future of delivery isn’t just faster vans or more sorting centres — it’s smarter eyes on the street.