The start-up Humane is preparing to market the AI Pin, a small box powered by AI which projects information into the palm of the hand. An intriguing object, which presents itself as a smartphone without a screen and a do-it-all assistant.
Since its creation, the Humane start-up has cultivated mystery around itself and its future products. Last April, she finally gave an astonishing conference, during which she presented a small screenless box projecting information into the palm of the hand, powered by AI and which claims to replace smartphones. Just that ! Since then, it has obviously had time to refine its product, now called AI Pin, which is about to arrive on the market.
As its name suggests, it is a kind of badge which takes the form of a box with rounded corners, held in place by a magnetic clip which also acts as a battery. It’s quite simple, it is supposed to be able to respond to all requests thanks to the integration of ChatGPT, with the latest version of its language model, GPT-4 Turbo. On November 9, Humane revealed new information about its device and opened pre-orders on his website. Thus, the AI Pin will be sold at a price of 699 dollars, accompanied by its charger and two battery amplifiers. But, alone, it will not be of much use, because it must communicate with the OpenAI servers to be truly functional. Also, you will need to subscribe to a monthly subscription of 24 dollars, which includes a telephone number and cellular data on the Humane brand wireless service – which operates on the T-Mobile network –, cloud storage for photos and videos, and the ability to make unlimited queries on AI models – although it’s not yet clear which ones. Pre-orders will launch in the US starting November 16, with the first deliveries planned for next year.
Humane AI Pin: a badge powered by ChatGPT
Founded by two former Apple employees, Humane completed its third fundraising last May with major investors such as Microsoft, LG, Volvo and OpenAI – for a total of $230 million. However, we did not know at all what its first commercial product would be, except that the company is working on artificial intelligence supposed to be more “closer”, more “natural”, more “human” and connected to the cloud. An ambitious project to say the least which is causing a lot of talk in Silicon Valley. Two years ago, a presentation was leaked, revealing a small portable camera that looked like a Star Trek badge, filming constantly in front of it. It was capable of projecting an image onto the user’s hand so that they could interact with the displayed elements. All with the promise of a real revolution in interactions between man and machine!
Imran Chaudhri, one of the company’s founders, finally resolved part of the mystery during a TED Talk recorded in Vancouver last April. On stage, he unveiled a new portable device supposed to be an alternative to smartphones, but also to the latest developments in the world of AI. The device appears as a box without a screen, similar to a badge that you wear on your shirt or polo shirt. We now know that it has motion and depth sensors, a 13 Mpx wide-angle camera, a speaker – it can also connect to Bluetooth headphones –, a touch zone, a projector, all of it powered by a 2.1GHz 8-core Snapdragon chip, with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The badge is Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 compatible, integrates GPS and supports 4G. It is completely autonomous and therefore does not need to be paired with a smartphone, which it must ultimately replace. As the device does not incorporate any screen, a projector displays information on the palm of the hand, while a finger gesture allows you to move from one “screen” to another. For the rest, most interactions with the AI Pin take place with voice, the AI assistant knowing how to follow a conversation without having to recall the context for each question. Finally, the badge works with an operating system called Cosmos.
Humane AI Pin: information projected into the palm of your hand
Imran Chaudhri’s goal is that we manage to separate ourselves from screens, which put an additional barrier between the world and us, and to make technology completely invisible. He explained in April that“It’s a new type of wearable device, a platform designed entirely for artificial intelligence. […] I“Interacts with the world in the same way you interact with the world, hearing what you hear, seeing what you see, while respecting your privacy, being completely safe and fully fading into your life.”. These are some great promises!
During the demonstration, the founder of Humane received a call from his wife via the device. The projector displayed essential information, namely the name of the person speaking to them, on the palm of their hand – but it could also do so on any other surface. Imran Chaudhri also asked him to translate his words in real time by imitating his voice, and was able to directly consult his calendars, notes and emails. Moreover, the AI had provided him with an audio summary of the photos received, missed emails, his upcoming appointments, etc. She had also answered questions and suggested places to buy a gift – was all the information retrieved via the cloud? Finally, the device was able to obtain information about an object placed in front of its camera. Here, Imran Chaudhri had presented him with a chocolate bar, which he was able to analyze based on its user’s dietary restrictions – here, he had recommended that the user not eat it due to his intolerance to cocoa butter. Note that, when the AI Pin records something, it emits a light to notify loved ones. The company ensures that the data sent to Humane servers is not sold to third parties or used to train AI models. Please note, this object recognition function will not be available at first.
Humane AI Pin: an intriguing prototype to say the least
For Imran Chaudhri, “your AI will become an ever more advanced form of personal memory. The technology of the future will not fit in your hand, nor will it be worn on your head, it could even be completely invisible”. However, this presentation as well as the new information leaves us a little unsatisfied and raises many questions. HAS start with using the interface. During the presentation, we see that you have to touch the device to use certain functions, but how does Imran Chaudhri accept his wife’s call, given that he does not press the buttons projected on his hand ? Likewise, how wearable does it know which language to translate into, as it only takes two taps to trigger the function? Since it works using the cloud, what can it do without an Internet connection? Won’t external conditions, such as noise or strong light, prevent its use? Finally, how do I use other applications, to order an Uber or consult social networks for example? We only know that a tool called Humane.center allows you to configure and personalize the device before you start wearing it. It’s unclear if this is a website or a phone app, but that’s how you’ll access the notes, videos, and photos collected by the pin.
HAS At this stage, it is still difficult to see the difference between this device and an Apple Watch, other than a slightly more advanced voice assistant but with limited functions. Besides, is it really necessary to remove the screen, which is very practical for watching videos or playing games! There is also the question of discretion, since everyone can see what is projected by the device and hear what the user is asking. In short, the project is rather intriguing, but we don’t have enough information to know what the device is really capable of.