If there’s one company that’s truly embraced the ChatGPT/AI era, it’s Humane, a secretive startup built by a super team of ex-Apple employees, including co-founders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno. After years of drip-feeding teasers and mission statements about its first-ever consumer product, the company today has finally launched the “AI Pin.”
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At the base level, the AI Pin is a wearable projector, with the ability to capture photos with an utlrawide RGB camera, send text messages and emails, and answer your most curious questions thanks to its ChatGPT-like capabilities. In case I didn’t mention it already, the company is backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft, among others. Naturally, the AI Pin operates on AI models from both OpenAI and Microsoft.
Much like any other wearable — wireless earbuds, smartwatches, etc. — the AI Pin is meant to be a casual, everyday accessory. However, it’s not as lightweight as its compact, all-aluminum figure makes it seem. The device, which requires a magnetic battery pack to keep it latched onto your shirt, weighs about 55 grams (2 ounces). For bulkier apparel, Humane is selling separately a clip-on accessory.
Notably, Imran Chaudhri told Wired that people with pacemakers should consult with their doctors about potential magnetic interference. In an interview with the publication, Chaudhri also mentioned that he’s been able to go about his day with the AI Pin attached, from biking to running and jumping. It’s even survived a one-meter-and-a-half fall on various surfaces, for what it’s worth.
Where things get crazier is when the projector does, well, projector things. When prompted with a physical tap on the device, the AI Pin can project a Laser Ink Display onto the palm of your hand. You can navigate the operating system, dubbed Cosmos, by tilting or rolling your hand forward or backward. A pinch gesture with your index and thumb fingers selects what’s on the projected display. And making a closed fist brings you back to the home screen.
At a TED Talk back in April, Chaudhri demoed how the AI Pin could project a caller ID when there was an incoming call, among other nifty features like summarizing your day’s worth of emails and identifying foods and their nutritional values. Newer…