Humanoid Robots at Amazon Provide Glimpse of Automated Workplace

Employees at an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse near Seattle recently got a glimpse of the future of work: a 5-foot-9-inch robot that resembles a human, walks like a bird and has glowing white eyes. Called Digit, the machine is configured for one basic task: plucking empty yellow bins off a shelf and ferrying them several feet to a conveyor. Then doing it again. Over and over and over.

The robot, in the testing phase, probably won’t transform the logistics industry anytime soon. But it’s a major technological leap forward, and it positions its maker, Agility Robotics Inc., at the vanguard ...