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What one piece of technology would most improve your working life?
Chances are it wouldn't be a glove. But car workers in Germany are now using smart gloves that not only save time but prevent accidents as well.
It is an example of how tech-enhanced humans are fighting back against the seemingly unstoppable rise of the robots.
At BMW's spare parts plant in Dingolfing, for example, which employs around 17,500 people, hand-held barcode readers have been replaced by gloves that scan objects when you put your thumb and forefinger together. The data is sent wirelessly to a central computer.
The hi-tech gloves allow workers to keep hold of items with both hands while scanning more quickly. While this may only save a few seconds each time, BMW reckons it adds up to 4,000 work minutes, or 66 hours, a day.
It's not just gloves; the article gives several examples of cool technology that help workers.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:02PM
I'm being serious. I expected the watch to be a toy for the most part. There are a few nice things like having easy-to-set set vibrating alarms that don't annoy people around me, the shopping list, and a couple other things, but I very much expected it to be something to experiment with.
Look, I'm not a fanboi for every new shiny either, but I like to be open to something new and try it for myself. Maybe you have a photographic memory but I will often forget an ingredient needed for the week and I have better things to do than to go shopping every other day. I write things down, I have phone with me all the time, so it made sense to use my phone years ago. The watch was just the next step to try since I already have it on my wrist already, and it worked better that I thought.