An Amazon employee greeted me cheerfully last week at the opening of a Whole Foods Market in Washington's Glover Park neighborhood by asking if I wanted to shop using my palm. I quickly linked both hands to my Amazon account and entered the store by hovering my right palm over the turnstile reader. I then spent the next 30 minutes shopping. I purchased a bag of cauliflower florets, grapefruit sparkling water, strawberries, and organic chicken sausages. Cameras and sensors tracked my selections and created a virtual shopping cart in real time. I was able to leave without needing to go through a cashier, as Amazon would later bill my account. Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13 billion over four years ago. The transformation of the grocery chain into an Amazon-style operation is now fully realized with the renovated Whole Foods store in Glover Park. Amazon had been gradually making changes to over 500 Whole Foods stores in the US and UK, primarily offering discounts and free delivery for Prime members. However, the 21,000-square-foot Whole Foods in Glover Park, along with a prototype store in Los Angeles, represents a significant advancement in Amazon's influence, with the stores nearly entirely operated by tracking and robotic technology. The technology called Just Walk Out uses hundreds of cameras to monitor customers and sensors under each product to track shopping activity. Deep-learning software analyzes this data to improve accuracy in charging customers. This technology is similar to that used in driverless cars, detecting when a product is taken and automatically charging customers as they leave the store. According to Amazon's vice president of physical retail and technology, Dilip Kumar, anyone with an Amazon account, not just Prime members, can now shop at select stores and skip the cash register by having the bill charged directly to their Amazon account. This technology, known as Amazon One, has been tested for over four years at Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores. Other stores, such as a Hudson convenience store at Dallas Love Field Airport and Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken restaurant at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, have also adopted this palm-scanning technology. Kumar views these stores as valuable experiments and sees Whole Foods as the next step in Amazon's tech expansion into retail stores. Kumar stated that they identified problem areas for customers and worked diligently to find ways to alleviate the issues. One observation was that customers did not like waiting in checkout lines, leading to the development of the Just Walk Out concept. He chose not to discuss Amazon's potential plans to implement this technology in all Whole Foods stores. According to Karen Weise, a colleague at The New York Times who covers Amazon from Seattle, the company operates with long-term goals, taking the time and resources needed to make significant transformations in labor, retail, and logistics. The Whole Foods in Glover Park has been a vital part of the neighborhood for over 20 years, serving as a cornerstone for residents near Embassy Row and the vice president's Naval Observatory residence. Despite closing four years ago due to a dispute with the landlord and a rat infestation, Amazon announced last year that it would reopen the store as a Just Walk Out pilot project. While the rats have been eliminated, there is still lingering concern among residents in the neighborhood. The newly renovated store has caused a lively local discussion among residents, with some debating the store's "dystopian" atmosphere compared to its impressive technology. Some neighbors recalled the store's previous inviting atmosphere with free samples and blueberry pancakes on weekends. One long-time resident, Alex Levin, believes that the community should embrace the store's changes and utilize the technology to their advantage. He shared an anecdote about trying to outsmart the store's cameras and sensors but was unsuccessful. However, some individuals mentioned that they discovered mistakes in their bills and were unhappy with the change from selling produce by weight to selling it per item, bundle, or box. Some lamented the loss of the traditional checkout line, where they could browse magazines and impulse items. A lot of people were wary of the tracking technology being used, with one person comparing it to George Orwell's "1984" - Allen Hengst, a retired librarian aged 72. Amazon stated that they do not intend to use video or other Whole Foods customer data for advertising or their recommendation system. Customers who do not wish to participate in the new technology can simply enter the store without signing in and pay with cash or a credit card at self-checkout kiosks. As a loyal customer of the Glover Park Whole Foods, I was eager to see the changes, but my excitement waned as I encountered restrictions on taking photos or videos inside the store, along with new features like palm scans and bundled banana packs. I glanced up at the ceiling and saw numerous small black plastic boxes hanging from the rafters. An employee then explained that those were the cameras that would track me during my shopping trip, without any sense of humor. There were workers at the entrance assisting customers with check-in, as well as others stationed at the seafood counter, cheese area, and produce section. Kumar assured that humans would always be employed at the stores, but I couldn't help but wonder for how much longer. Amazon, facing criticism for its treatment of workers, stated that employees' responsibilities could evolve to involve more customer interaction for answering inquiries. The company was showing signs of moving towards a more self-service model. For instance, when I went to a bakery to have my $4.99 Harvest loaf sliced, I was directed to a professional bread slicer for customers. A cautionary label advised to be mindful of the sharp blades and moving parts. Kumar refused to provide information on the accuracy of Just Walk Out, so I decided to test the technology myself. I conducted an experiment by picking up an organic avocado and placing it among nonorganic avocados. I then walked around the store before returning to retrieve the same avocado. If the cameras and sensors were working correctly, Amazon would detect my actions and charge me for the misplaced organic avocado. At the end of my shopping trip, I had the choice of using a self-checkout kiosk or skipping that step altogether. I chose the second option and waved my hand over the exit turnstile. The turnstile opened, and an employee informed me that I would receive my receipt within two to three hours. I left the store feeling uncomfortable, worrying that I might be wrongly accused of shoplifting. I received an email from Amazon in my email inbox an hour later. The email contained a link that directed me to my Amazon account to view details of my shopping experience, which lasted 32 minutes and 26 seconds. The total bill was $34.35, and I was correctly charged for the organic avocado.