Amazon Is Always Looking Out
A TV that can detect when you are in or out of the room. An electronic device that monitors your sleep cycle and tracks your breathing patterns. A voice assistant that can highlight how much it knows about you and your daily life.
Amazon revealed a number of product updates last week at an exclusive press event. These are designed to insert their gadgets into every corner of your home with the apparent goal to make life easier. The event also served as a reminder of how closely Amazon’s products are monitoring us.
Prior events raised eyebrows when Amazon (AMZN displayed blatant examples of surveillance products such as drones and Astro, a dog-like robot that patrols your home. However, Amazon’s advances in everyday tracking were slightly more subtle this year.
For example, the new Halo Rise sleep tracking system sits on the nightstand. It monitors the person’s breathing and micro-movements as they sleep, without them having to wear a tracker. According to the device, it works even when the person is facing the opposite direction or is covered with pillows and blankets.
Amazon’s Echo Show 15 smart display now allows Alexa to speak and rattle off a morning routine, update the calendar, and highlight traffic reports on the commute to work. You can also ask Alexa to turn the lights off up to 24 hours ahead of time if they aren’t home.
Amazon is expanding Astro’s capabilities.
The robot can detect the faces of pets and stream footage to their owners when they are away from the house. It can check that windows and doors are shut and can monitor the house more closely when its owner is not there.
Amazon is not the only tech company that offers products that track users or collect data. This promises improved safety, convenience and productivity. Amazon has created an extensive range of services and products that can be used to track our daily lives, and this is perhaps more than any other tech company.
Two major announcements were made by Amazon in the months before the event. These announcements could allow Amazon to expand its reach even further into our lives. Amazon arranged last month to buy iRobot. This company is behind the popular Roomba vacuums. Some of these vacuums create maps of inside our homes. It also revealed plans to expand its reach in health care by purchasing One Medical, a membership-based service for primary care.
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