Holding a phone is so last year.
Humane’s Ai Pin, a wearable smartphone alternative that works as an AI personal assistant, is now widely available in the U.S. starting Thursday.
The Pin has generated a lot of hype, promising an AI smartphone alternative that helps users be more present. It was one of TIME’s best inventions of 2023.
The futuristic wearable fastens magnetically onto clothing and becomes a voice-activated AI assistant, like a faster Siri or Alexa, that can make calls, send texts, take notes, and find answers to complex questions.
It costs $699 or $799 depending on the color and requires a $24 per month service plan through Humane, in partnership with T-Mobile’s 4G network. The plan includes unlimited talk, text, and data with a dedicated phone number.
Humane Ai Pin. Photo Credit: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Humane’s husband-wife co-founders, Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno said the Ai Pin is the first step to a screenless future.
“We like to say that the experience is screenless, seamless, and sensing, allowing you to access the power of compute while remaining present in your surroundings,” Chaudhri said during an April 2023 TED talk that’s been viewed 3.5 million times.
It’s powered by technology from ChatGPT-creator OpenAI and backed by Microsoft’s cloud computing services.
Chaudhri, who worked as Apple’s director of design for over 20 years, and Bongiorno, who was Apple’s software engineering director for over 8 years, began conceptualizing the Ai Pin in 2017.
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Instead of a screen, the Ai Pin beams a Laser Ink projection on a user’s palm, which they can then control with a series of hand gestures.
A built-in camera on the device helps users capture moments and even get calorie estimates for food right in front of them. If a user asks “What am I looking at?” the Pin’s camera will look at the scene and identify objects in it, which could be useful for sightseeing. Right now the Pin can also take 15-second HD videos.
A “Trust Light” turns on whenever the Pin’s camera, microphone, or sensors are active.
Gesture control of the laser ink display projection of a Humane Ai pin. Photo Credit: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Ai Pin also has an Interpreter function with real-time audio translations in more than 50 languages.
A USA Today reviewer called it “the best real-time language translator I’ve tested to date.”
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Other recent reviews present a mixed take on the effectiveness of the Pin at the moment.
Engadget wrote on Thursday that the Pin has its downsides — the laser screen was hard to see outdoors, on cloudy days, and the audio-heavy controls sometimes presented a problem.
“Talking out loud, and having the content stated back at you in an audio format, is really not something that most people can use in public,” the review said.
It also noted that asking about the weather required listening to an audio response before the Pin projected more details and that typing out a Wi-Fi password was “not only a pain but near impossible” and required extra steps.
The Washington Post pointed out that texting was tricky on the Pin, with some messages not going through as intended, and wrote that the device tends to overheat.
But Bongiorno is optimistic.
“As with all gen 1 products, this is just the starting point,” Bongiorno posted on X on Thursday.
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