Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Images (Getty).
It’s simply called Bracelet, and it’s the latest innovation from Amazon to make sure your package arrives as quickly as humanly possible. Of course, as a human, you might not be too happy with how it works or why it was created in the first place.
Future Tech: New Amazon Wristbands Track Employees’ Movements
Before we get into how this is just one more step towards total privacy loss and the eventual takeover of the human race via cyborgs and/or full-on robots, let’s run through just what the Bracelet will be used for and how it works.
In theory, Amazon’s patented design for a wristband capable of vibrating a factory worker’s arm directly to the product they are searching for sounds…efficient? As detailed by GeekWire, the bands use ultrasonic tracking technology as a means of further streamlining the completion of orders. Prior to this, workers would simply have order details sent to handheld computers that they all carry. From there, they’d locate the product in their massive inventory, box it up and send it on its way.
But obviously, that wasn’t quick enough.
The major (and glaring) flaw with this new invention is that Amazon workers on the whole are already pretty miserable. In large part, this is due to all the security measures, surveillance and work required of them under strict deadline. Therefore, streamlining the process by treating employees even more like the robots they work with daily seems borderline insulting. Adding a vibrating device to their arms which could be compared (with little imagination, mind you) to shock therapy seems like a step in the wrong direction.
But hey, there employee’s sure look happy. What’s a few more rules and regulations to make them feel further trapped within the confines of their workspace?
h/t The Guardian
