Amazon Is Working On A Wearable Health Device: Report

Jeff Bezos-led ecommerce major Amazon is reportedly working on a voice-activated wearable device, code-named Dylan, that will be able to detect the wearer’s emotions.

The device will analyse wearer’s mood by capturing the sound of their voice, using its inbuilt microphones and connected smartphone app,  according to the company documents accessed by Bloomberg. Using this input, the device will be able to advise its wearer on how to effectively interact with others, documents added.

The device categorised as a health and wellness product, is said to be a joint effort of hardware developer Lab126 and Amazon. Lab126 is the group responsible for the development of Amazon’s Fire phone and Echo smart speaker, and Alexa’s voice software.

Amazon’s wearable device is said to be in beta testing stage but there is no clarity on the stage of the trial — as in, whether the trial is being done on the prototype hardware or the emotion detection software.

Microsoft, Google and Apple have also been reported to be working on devices which can detect human emotions. In 2014, a group of German scientists were reported to have developed a software for Google Glass which could measure human emotions by analysing their facial expressions, along with detecting the person’s age and gender.

Players like Fitbit, Goqii, Lenovo, Apple, Xiaomi, have also entered the Indian wearables market. Flipkart-owned entity Myntra had too launched a wearable fitness band called Blink Go in 2018. The wearable features include inbuilt heart rate sensor, and activity tracker.

Amazon’s Ambitious Future Bets

Whether it is a fully electric delivery system Scout, prototyping delivery drones, or the use of robots in fulfillment centers — Amazon has been betting big on futuristic innovations.

Recently in May, the company was reported to be rolling out CartonWrap, machines capable of automating the packaging of customer orders.This is believed to have already been started in a few American warehouses.

Prior to this, Amazon has also launched Alexa Skill Blueprints feature in India which enables Indian users to create their own personal Alexa skills across various categories such as games, learning and knowledge using 30 existing templates.

Amazon reported a 17% growth in net sales reaching $59.7 Bn in the first quarter of 2019, as compared to $51 Bn in the first quarter of 2018. The company’s operating income increased to $4.4 Bn in Q1 2019, compared with operating income of $1.9 Bn in Q1 2018.