Wristbands
the patents Amazon received cover radio frequency and ultrasonic tracking technology. A wristband with radio frequency technology, like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, could receive signals from antennas in a warehouse and nudge a worker’s hand with a vibration, indicating which direction it should move toward the right inventory bin.
Ultrasonic tracking has been used in retail stores and advertising. If a beacon with the technology is installed on a rack of sweaters in a store, for example, it can ping customers’ phones as they browse, sending them coupons for sweaters. The technology described in Amazon’s patent could allow the wristband to communicate with transmitters throughout a warehouse.
The devices could give employers a fine-tuned understanding of how workers’ hands are moving, what’s working in the warehouse and what isn’t, said Romit Roy Choudhury, a computer engineering professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“Putting the wrong box in a particular place can have cascading effects,” he said. “Being able to track these things and give an alert on your wrist saying that you put it in the wrong place, I think, is very important.”
However, some argue the technology could lead to discrimination. Even if the wristbands don’t use GPS tracking, they could tell a company if a woman is taking longer bathroom breaks than co-workers or whether a disabled employee is moving more slowly, which could reflect negatively on their job performance, said Paula Brantner, senior adviser at employee rights organization Workplace Fairness.
And if Amazon starts using this technology, it won’t be long before other warehouses follow, Brantner said.
At some of Amazon’s “fulfillment centers” around the country, robots move among the employees, grabbing racks of items and bringing them to the workers. Others, such as the facility in Romeoville, aren’t as high-tech and are filled with employee-operated forklifts
Technology is pushing boundaries in the workplace, and employees have few rights to deny it.
and items sliding along conveyor belts.
The company has been criticized for difficult working conditions at its warehouses. Still, job fairs for Amazon’s warehouses draw hundreds of potential applicants.
Technology is pushing boundaries in the workplace, Brantner said, and employees have few rights to deny it.
“Everybody wants those Amazon jobs,” Brantner said. “If you don’t want to wear the wristband, someone else will.”