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Inside Amazon Go

nytimes.com

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Re: Inside Amazon Go

#261

Post by lsc »

lsc wrote: post #141
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41

I know the standard reaction from a lot of HN folk will be to celebrate this progress: it's faster, more efficient, and no one likes to waste time waiting in line. Still, though, I think Amazon's automation of the retail experience is helping to create a society where there is even less real social interaction, and I think it's a factor (if even a small one currently) in the increasing tribalism in American society.…

>Throughout history, "the marketplace" had been one of the major centers of interpersonal interaction If you mean "the coffee shop" (there's a long history there) or "the pub" (a longer history, in the western tradition there) sure, I agree. I'm not saying randos approach me all the time when I'm in those sorts of places, but it happens. It doesn't happen at the grocery store hardly at all. It happens a lot more ofte…

and I think there's something different culturally about waiting in line for prepared food I'm going to eat there and waiting in line in the grocery store; I much more frequently am approached by random people in line at Sam's than at Safeway, even though I spend a lot more time in the latter.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#262

Post by mulmen »

vageli wrote: post #223
mulmen wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know HN is made up of only Americans?

OP said "most[ly]" not "only". Just wanted to point out that your comment shifts the goal posts.

I disagree, we do not know the demographics of HN and the only sources cited deal with America specifically. It’s all speculation.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#263

Post by MrFoof »

samwillis wrote: post #169

Waitrose in the UK has had something called "Quick Check" for maybe the last 10 years. On the way into the store, you swipe your "My Waitrose" card and collect a barcode scanner. You then scan and bag everything on the way around and return your scanner to a dedicated terminal (which generally have no queue) and very quickly pay. More recently they added the ability to use your smartphone as the scanner so that you d…

Stop & Shop in the US has the same system, for a similar amount of time (about 10 years).

Even down to the "rescan" audits by an employee. The only downer with Stop & Shop is the audits went from something I'd encounter a few times a year, to something I'd encounter every other visit.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#264

Post by mulmen »

_ptgt wrote: post #225
mulmen wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know HN is made up of only Americans?

The demographic trends in the GP aren't unique to America. They're more or less the rule in most developed countries, and I think it's safe to say most HN users probably come from developed countries.

Can you cite a source for that? How can you infer the demographics of HN in the absence of data?

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#265

Post by hbosch »

janekm wrote: post #204

There is a company opening similar types of supermarkets and corner stores in China. But they have taken it a step further, there aren’t even any gates. The experience feels really surreal... you just pick something off the shelf, scan it with the app, pay in the app (helped by the seamless mobile payment services in China), and walk out. The first time I tried it I couldn’t help finding an employee to show them I pa…

They also have this at most (all?) Apple stores in the US. You can scan and pay with the Apple Store app on your device and walk out, no fuss. It did feel amazing the first time I did it.

However, the Amazon Go solution is even more seamless, more quick, and more natural.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#266

Post by hbosch »

TheEzEzz wrote: post #210
Guest9812398 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine it's similar to the below video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeS8TJwBAFs

Jordan from Standard Cognition here (that's a video of our autonomous checkout system). From what we've read about Amazon it sounds like we're approaching things very differently. Amazon uses sensor fusion, including lots of non-vision sensors (floor sensors, shelf sensors, potentially RFID as a supplemental signal). We do everything from ceiling cameras, nothing else. That makes the system harder to build, but much…

Your comment intrigued me, so I found this article:

https://www.recode.net/2018/1/21/16913984/what-does-photos-a...

I don't think there can be any floor sensors there. There may be inventory-counting shelf sensors, I have no idea. There definitely isn't RFID. Looks like massive camera arrays in the ceiling.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#267

Post by [deleted] »

rtkwe wrote: post #229
seanwilson wrote: post #222

I haven't seen anyone discuss the technology...can this really be reliable? It mentions cameras above the shop floor and machine learning. What do the cameras look for? Are there special visual markets on the products to make this task more robust? If not, there surely must be caveats? Are RFID tags not a more elegant solution? Or are they too expensive?

RFID tags have a lot of problems among them that unless you get every manufacturer on board for labeling all the products in your store you're going to have to spend a lot of time labeling products before shelving. It's also a continuous cost per item either from the manufacturer or from the in house labeling process where a static system like Amazon Go can track without adding a per item cost. It's also not good eno…

[deleted]

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#268

Post by Raphael »

ClassyJacket wrote: post #244
thatfunkymunki wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because Costco has an awfully consumer hostile policy of accusing every customer of theft as they exit the warehouse. I absolutely can't stand being accused of crime in this manner.

They even accuse you of theft when it ENTER the place. They're so militant about it. I'm almost scared to go into one if I ever go to America for fear of them gunning me down with a rifle if I go within twenty meters of the entrance without a card. The hostility towards everyone really puts me off, and I haven't been able to bring myself to get a membership yet.

Checking membership at the entrance makes sense so that non-members don't waste their time shopping.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#270

Post by derek »

thatfunkymunki wrote: post #231
silveira wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco had something like that a few years ago. It would not save much time because in the end someone would need to check if you were not stealing anything. After maybe less than a year in operation they returned to old cashiers.

That's because Costco has an awfully consumer hostile policy of accusing every customer of theft as they exit the warehouse. I absolutely can't stand being accused of crime in this manner.

That has always annoyed me as well, though in fairness the two times they caught a discrepancy at the exit it was in my favor (forgot an item at the checkout in one case, double charged in the other).
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