The store of the future of Amazon Go is open to all comers
At the end of 2016, Amazon introduced the project of a fully automated store without cash registers and sellers. The concept has been tested for a long time by the company's employees (and not to say that without any problems), and since January 22, Amazon Go can be visited without a special invitation.
How it works?
The black boxes on the ceiling are cameras. By the way, there are no microphones for recording conversations in Amazon Go
The "clever" store is located on the first floor of the Amazon headquarters in Seattle. The shopping area of about 167 m² is literally stuffed with cameras and other sensors that track the actions of customers and the movement of goods. At the entrance, just attach a smartphone with an open Amazon application to the turnstile. The user is assigned a unique identifier, and everything taken from the shelves is automatically added to the account. If you put unnecessary in place, these goods will be deleted from the shopping list. The total amount is written off when you leave the store.
The first time the system was confused when watching people of the same composition, in pairs (to whom to bill?) And children who can start eating a bar back in the store. The problem was when the goods were not returning to their place. Now, according to eyewitnesses, Amazon Go is able to distinguish even almost identical Starbucks drinks, which differ only in the availability of low-fat or normal cream. On the boxes with sandwiches and salads there are special labels, which greatly simplifies the recognition of products.
Without human labor, Amazon Go still did. One employee greets visitors at the entrance, another person checks the identity card at the shelves with alcohol, and through the window to the street you can see at least six kitchen workers.
What's next?
The further fate of Amazon Go depends on how well the technology will show itself in the work. Amazon is not yet planning to implement the latest development in the supermarket chain Whole Foods, which the company bought for $ 13.7 billion. This is more of an experiment than a commercial project.