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[Amazon] has patented designs for a wristband that would track where its workers put their hands in relation to inventory bins and give "haptic feedback" to signal if they have the right bin to retrieve an item or not. The patent documents were first spotted by GeekWire.
The "ultrasonic bracelet", supposed to be a time- and labour-saving device, would work by periodically emitting ultrasonic sound pulses to a receiver, tracking which bin a worker is reaching for and monitoring how efficiently they fulfill orders. The wristband would also send and receive radio transmissions, pinning a worker's location and giving a burst of "haptic feedback", a vibration similar to those found in phones or game controllers, which would tell the employee if they're reaching for the right bin or not.
The approach would eliminate the need for extra time-consuming acts, "such as pushing a button associated with the inventory bin or scanning a barcode associated with the inventory bin," one patent's description reads.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @03:47AM (8 children)
Fuck off
and
Die
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Friday February 02 2018, @03:49AM
Worker hostility detected. Haptic feedback increased to 11.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Friday February 02 2018, @03:53AM (5 children)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5tDQ38uLPo [youtube.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @04:51AM (4 children)
I prefer Go Fuck Yourself [youtube.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by aristarchus on Friday February 02 2018, @05:49AM (2 children)
There was this Greek Country-Western singer (we have both kinds!) name Johnny Paycheck, and he had this song, which was titled, Take This Job and Shove It! [youtube.com]
What happened to left-wing populist Country-Western Music? We could use some Johnny Paycheck, and less Runaway1954.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 02 2018, @10:15AM (1 child)
You could also use some hard cash instead of just a paycheck, the results are the same [youtube.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Friday February 02 2018, @02:20PM
More 'other' Cash:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1Pwfnh5pc [youtube.com]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @08:51AM
I guess that's one good way to catch the guy leaving the spooge in the company restroom...
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Friday February 02 2018, @11:07PM
I think Amazon is doing its best to replace its unskilled workers with automation. Considering that most people work in Amazon warehouses not because they enjoy the abusive employer relationship but because they literally have no other options, I don't think their future is going to be very bright, wristband or not.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by linkdude64 on Friday February 02 2018, @03:50AM (7 children)
1984 was a story conceived with the technology available in Orwell's time.
A new magnum opus is waiting to be written.
(Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Friday February 02 2018, @04:51AM
Manna [marshallbrain.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 3, Insightful) by canopic jug on Friday February 02 2018, @05:28AM
1984 was a story conceived with the technology available in Orwell's time.
It seems that the oligarchs have also borrowed heavily from the movie THX-1138 lately too. Originally 1984, Brave New World, and other dystoptian novels were used in school classes for discussion to try to avoid future problems. I think that has backfired and that most of the kids instead took those stories to heart as templates. I'm worried what happens when all those "Game of Thrones" watchers eventually raise their kids. We already have a mess in society from decades of "reality" TV where the weak and or untalented have been systematically trained to gather in packs and collude to tear down anyone seen as talented or strong or both.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Friday February 02 2018, @06:35AM (3 children)
If we are going to get into Kafkaesque movies, I rather prefer "Brazil".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(1985_film) [wikipedia.org]
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday February 02 2018, @08:23AM
Gregor Samsa awakens one morning to find he has turned into a giant cockroach.
His chief concern is that he will be late to work.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @08:25AM
And here is your receipt for my receipt [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday February 02 2018, @07:19PM
Damnit, now that song's gonna be stuck in my head the rest of the day!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @09:30AM
Cyborg slaves. Now with Rectium™ inside.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday February 02 2018, @03:51AM (1 child)
will they offer discounts on their new employee health care for workers who wear these, or will they make wearing these compulsory, then refuse the imsurance claims (and future employment) of those who "under perform"?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @12:12PM
Maybe both, in that order.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday February 02 2018, @04:07AM (9 children)
They solicit me to apply once a month or so.
And why?
Because Jeff bezos is in league with Satan
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday February 02 2018, @04:17AM (8 children)
Bezos is Amazon, Washington Post, and Blue Origin. You are thinking of the Zuck.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @04:25AM
At least the Zuck is only spreading fake news and hiding supposed wrongthink. Bezos actually generates fake news.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday February 02 2018, @06:23AM (6 children)
I expect Amazon will buy Facebook someday.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by captain normal on Friday February 02 2018, @06:41AM (2 children)
Do you think Zuck can offer Elon a deal he can't refuse?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmX2VzsB25s [youtube.com]
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @01:45PM (1 child)
No - Elon Musk isn't in it for the money.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday February 02 2018, @02:18PM
Interesting Plausibility that Elon Musk Could Become a Trillionaire with a City on Mars by 2040 [nextbigfuture.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday February 02 2018, @05:15PM (2 children)
Why?
Bezos seems to have made pretty good business choices so far: building the largest retailer on the Internet that's now making Walmart hurt, then getting into cloud computing services and dominating that, Washington Post probably isn't going to be a big money-maker but it probably won't lose any either, Blue Origin isn't winning like SpaceX but it's good to have some competition there, and now he's bought Whole Foods and that looks like it's doing well.
Facebook would cost an absolute fortune now, but it really has nowhere to go but down, IMO. It costs a lot to run, and you can only make so much money selling advertising to people who sit on there and post stupid family photos or posts about what they ate that night. I predict it's eventually going to collapse, and it's probably overvalued right now.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 03 2018, @08:46PM (1 child)
He steals from his employees
Amazon won a Supreme Court case in which it's wsrehouhe employees sued for payment for the time they spend waiting to be searched at the ends of their shifts
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Sunday February 04 2018, @04:17PM
Ok, but that has nothing to do with Bezos potentially buying Facebook.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Snotnose on Friday February 02 2018, @04:26AM (2 children)
Mr Johnson has another overactive wrist error.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Friday February 02 2018, @04:43AM (1 child)
[the dude]
johnson?
[/the dude]
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @06:11PM
"I said we CUT OFF YOUR JOHNSON!"
(Score: 3, Touché) by captain normal on Friday February 02 2018, @04:31AM (1 child)
Why should they stop there. Make implants mandatory for all workers. Save the cost of developing robots to do the work.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday February 02 2018, @05:22AM
They'll do that to help with any worker health issues [imdb.com] that may arise.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by idiot_king on Friday February 02 2018, @04:42AM
Futurama beat Bezos to the punch.
Matt Groening should sue.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday February 02 2018, @01:21PM (3 children)
So it can detect where it is, and if it is entering the right location... Next step, pair it with a robot hand akin to this: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/524286/a-robotic-hand-this-time-with-feeling/ [technologyreview.com] . Add some technology from DeepMind, and you've replaced people. Robots can stock the boxes, robots can empty a box.
Wonder when that will happen
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @03:50PM
Put it on a dog, throw a ball around the warehouse. Wow... that worker is fast, give him a raise.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday February 02 2018, @05:36PM
Probably not that long. Robots should be able to more efficiently pack boxes too, knowing the 3D shapes of the items, and then quickly computing the most efficient way to pack those into a box, and which box to use. They could probably save a lot of money over the human workers they're using now, who use way-too-large boxes and do a terrible job packing them, with the items bouncing around inside because they use almost no packing materials.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Friday February 02 2018, @06:19PM