More and more manufacturers want to put AI functions in their mobile devices. Instead, Humane designed a new product type.
Smartphone manufacturers such as Google and Samsung will soon integrate AI tools into their smartphones and tablets. For Humane, a company founded by Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, both ex-Apple, that is not enough. They envision a world in which smartphones are no longer necessary. With them Ai Pinwhich is being launched today, the company wants to take a first step towards that world.
Although the so-called Ai Pin will not be officially launched until soon, it was possible The Verge already view documents about the new product. This shows that Humane wants to release a $699 device. It is a device without a screen, which you can pin on with a magnet. The device also runs on a special version of the T-Mobile network and has access to AI models such as ChatGPT. Users would have to pay $24 per month for this: otherwise they would not have access to the network.
AI-button
The device looks a bit like a button that you can pin on. The device lets you use a magnet for this, which also supplies the Ai Pin with power. Furthermore, the device is powered by a Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. The system can handle environmental information thanks to motion and depth sensors, and has a camera to record the environment. To use the device you have to speak to it – for this you use what Humane calls the ‘personic speaker’.
The device is controlled entirely by voice, as it has no screen. Users can ask to show information: there is a laser projector in the device for this purpose. This allows the Ai Pin to project information onto your hand. You could also interact with the AI systems on the button using movements. You can also show things to the system by holding them up to the camera.
Multiple AI functions
You could also use the pin to write out messages, or you can let the AI system summarize your unread emails. The AI system can also recognize what is on your plate via the camera, after which it can immediately provide you with information about the nutritional value. There is even support for playing music via Tidal – the Ai Pin will then act as a DJ, playing the right music at the right time.
Humane answers privacy concerns by not allowing its Ai Pin to be constantly recorded. The device only starts doing this when you activate it manually. Users will therefore not be able to use their voice to call the AI assistants, as they can with Google Assistant, Siri and Amazon Alexa. When the device is active, it will also glow: this means you cannot secretly release the AI functions into your environment.
European launch unlikely
Humance launches the Ai Pin today. It is unlikely that the product will come to Europe: the Humane network, which piggybacks on T-Mobile masts, is not available here. For AI in your trouser or shirt pocket, Europeans will have to go to brands like Samsung keep watching.
