3 ms·

No mention of people wearing masks or putting them on after the fact or better yet, completely changing clothing? That's the easiest, simplest and cheapest way

• adventured 9y ago
  How do you figure? Identification isn't only based on your face. From the article: "Employees have tried to fool the technology. One day, three enterprising Amazonians donned bright yellow Pikachu costumes and cruised around grabbing sandwiches, drinks and snacks. The algorithms nailed it, according to a person familiar with the situation, correctly identifying the employees and charging their Amazon accounts, even though they were obscured behind yellow polyester. " It links to an account on your phone. You're under full surveillance while in the store. To go any further down the premise you're suggesting, you're already getting to traditional methods of walking into a store, stealing merchandise, and then running for it.
  • tabeth 9y ago
    I'm aware you're under surveillance. I'm skeptical that it would be able to maintain the connection the entire time you're in the store. For example, what if you changed clothing? The Pikachu example, I'd argue is even easier than people wearing regular clothing due to the fact that it's unusual.
  • deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  • anigbrowl 9y ago
    Pfff. If I could get a waiver of legal liability in advance I can think of multiple ways to get around that. Since there aren't any cashiers whose safety could be threatened I'm heartily in favor of people developing creative hacks for the brief duration that remains before we turn the whole damn world into a capitalist panopticon.
    • mstolpm 9y ago
      So, why trying to be creative? Just robbing the store in a conventional fashion should do - and facing security/police when leaving. Good luck.
      • anigbrowl 9y ago
        Because that's boring and not responsive to the situation.
• justonepost 9y ago
  Likely there is human surveillance happening as well. It's probably not all entirely automated.
  • tabeth 9y ago
    I dunno. If the store has bathrooms will those be watched too? What's stopping someone from entering the bathroom and changing? It's true that human surveillance can help a lot, but if that's the case you might as well just get cashiers , who double as stockers who are necessary anyways. I'm less concerned about stealing and more interested whether this would be cheaper or a better experience than just having cashiers. Is EBT accepted for example? Can a grocery store not accept EBT? Can EBT even be accepted online? Etc.
    • mstolpm 9y ago
      What should happen if you change clothes in the bathroom? You would not allowed to enter with any goods not already purchased. So, you have to pick up your items after leaving the bathroom in your "new" clothes in a designated storage area (think: Ikea, Frys or Borders restrooms). Either, your smartphone would identify you against the system afterwards and the picked up items are attached to your account or the system would itendify a stranger without smartphone/check-in picking up items from the storage area. In both situations, I don't see how you could game the system.
      • tabeth 9y ago
        > What should happen if you change clothes in the bathroom? Nothing. Just like in a regular store. If it ends up working how you describe it sounds like a terrible experience in cold areas where people regularly take off multiple layers of clothing, including but not limited to face masks, gloves, sweaters, coats, etc. Also, in terms of gaming the system, it doesn't need to be "gamed", it just needs to allow you to walk out with items easily. People already shoplift easily, the question is whether it will be easier with this new system. Presumably the purpose of this is to be both easier for the customer and cheaper for Amazon compared to have cashiers.