New Amazon Patent: Wearable IoT Wristbands for Warehouse Workers

Amazon was awarded two patents this week. This involved wristbands that can track a warehouse worker’s hands and monitor their performance. The patented wristbands basically have ultrasonic bracelets that can detect the position of a worker’s hands. This position is in relation to inventory bins and a haptic feedback system that signals if they have the right bin to retrieve an item.

The patent claims that the wristbands are designed to save time and labor of the workers. On a timely basis, the wristbands will emit ultrasonic sound pulses to a receiver and track which product bin a worker is using. It will also monitor how efficiently the workers are fulfilling orders.

The patent stated, “…Existing approaches for keeping track of where inventory items are stored...may require the inventory system worker to perform time-consuming acts beyond placing the inventory item into an inventory bin.”

On Monitor

But it’s important to note that tracking and monitoring employees constantly can be very invasive as well. Considering how 500 Amazon workers went on strike in November after pay disagreements, these wristbands can stir up further controversy.

When it comes to building up the efficiency of employees and operations, Amazon is heading for the best. Earlier, it had experimented with worker robots and delivery drones. And not to forget the no-employees store with the Amazon Go cashier-less concept store.