The first Amazon One palm readers are officially hitting retail stores in the Seattle area. The readers, announced last winter, are completely touchless and instead read the lines on the palm of your hand to identify you for checkout.
Amazon will use the readers instead of QR codes to check customers out at their unmanned Amazon Go retail locations.
[referenced id=”1515241″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/09/amazon-sees-palm-readers-in-your-retail-shopping-future/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/30/kzw4gumzs4ws1g2vkryn-300×169.jpg” title=”Amazon Sees Palm Readers in Your Retail Shopping Future” excerpt=”Move over Bill Gates, it’s time for Jeff Bezos to get a little more time in the spotlight of conspiracy theorists. On Tuesday, Amazon announced the rollout of its new Amazon One devices that use a customer’s palm for identification and payment at physical retail stores. The devices are already…”]
The enrollment process involves a quick credit card swipe and a wave of your palm.
“The first step is to insert your credit card. Next, hover your palm over the device and follow the prompts to associate that card with the unique palm signature being built for you by our computer vision technology in real-time,” wrote Amazon’s Dilip Kumar last September. “You’ll have the option to enroll with just one palm or both.”
Because the devices are disconnected from your digital life, according to the company, they allow for a more seamless shopping experience and grow Amazon’s market share. After all, if you can sign up to shop without an Amazon account, the company will grab the stragglers who, for whatever reason, refuse to create Amazon accounts.
According to a Seattle Times report, Amazon’s One devices will land in Redmond, Washington, on Wednesday and in a number of other locations including University Village and Southcenter in the next few weeks.
Editor’s Note: It’s unlikely these devices will hit Australian shores any time soon, but keep an eye on that tech horizon. Change is coming.