Ever wished your shoes had rockets attached for that instant zoom to work? Or dreamt of clothes that could change colors to match your mood? While we may have to wait a bit for those, a new high-tech gadget is here to transform your lapel into a sleek tech companion that can whisper the news, translate languages, take an optical look around, or even take calls.
The tiny Ai Pin with big features
The Humane Ai Pin was first revealed at the TED conference in April 2023, where co-founder Imran Chaudhri, a former Apple honcho, demonstrated some of its features, such as making phone calls, getting daily summaries, scanning food items, and projecting a green screen.
Credit: TED
Not just a pretty pin
The device made another appearance at the Paris Fashion Week in September 2023, where it was worn by supermodel Naomi Campbell and other models during the Coperni Spring 2024 runway show.
With her legendary status in the fashion realm, Campbell didn’t just bring the glam but also underscored how fashion-forward this wearable tech can be.
Credit: Coperni
The little pin that could
Now, fashion shows are known for their fair share of wild, out-there outfits, but this time around, it was this tiny pin that stole the spotlight. Unlike a giant hat that could shelter a family of four or shoes taller than a toddler, this little gadget promises to pack a punch in the tech department while staying stylish. Humane said that the collaboration with Coperni was based on their shared passion for design, creativity, and technology.
Credit: Humane
MORE: TOM HANKS’ FAKE AI DENTAL PLAN VIDEO IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF BOGUS CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
Fashion meets functionality
The Ai Pin is more than just a flashy accessory—it’s a screenless gadget packed with a mini-projector, camera, and speaker, aiming to weave AI into daily interactions. It can be pinned to your clothing and interact with your voice, gestures, and environment.
It’s showcasing features like AI-powered optical recognition and real-time language translation, all while prioritizing user privacy. Unlike some gadgets that are always on standby to listen for commands, the Ai Pin doesn’t have this ‘always-on’ listening feature, meaning it’s not constantly monitoring or recording what’s being said around it, which admittedly sounds confusing to this cyberguy.
Credit: Humane
MORE: TOM BRADY, PARIS HILTON, SNOOP DOGG, AND KENDALL JENNER CHANGE THEIR NAMES FOR AI
From Apple to Ai Pin
The roots of Humane trace back to 2017, with former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri at the helm. The startup has been nurturing the Ai Pin, a device that hints at a new era of wearable technology. The anticipation around Humane’s venture escalated when it was unveiled that substantial financial backing was propelling the Ai Pin’s development, with big names like Sam Altman, the guy behind ChatGPT, and collaborations with OpenAI on the list.
Credit: Humane
Veil of mystery
There’s still a veil of mystery surrounding the Ai Pin’s full range of functionalities and how it stacks up against the typical smartphone. As the countdown to its November 9 release draws near, the tech and fashion worlds are holding their breath for what could be a game-changer in wearable tech, with the official announcement also sounding mysterious from its two founders,
Our Ai Pin presents an opportunity for people to take AI with them everywhere and to unlock a new era of personal mobile computing which is seamless, screenless and sensing.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Here we are, on the cusp of seeing a cool blend of fashion and tech with Humane’s Ai Pin. It’s got the style, the smart tech, and a dash of mystery that’s keeping us all on our toes. So far, it may be the closest thing I’ve ever felt like tapping and uttering the command, “Beam me up, Scotty.”
Do you see yourself sporting the Ai Pin on your next night out? Do you think it’ll be a game-changer like the iPhone, or might it follow the path of Blu-ray DVDs? Let me know by commenting below.
Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:
- What is the best way to protect your Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Android devices from getting hacked?
- What is the best way to stay private, secure, and anonymous while browsing the web?
- How can I get rid of robocalls with apps and data removal services?
21 comments
My caveat as a marketing product manager was always, “if you CAN make it do that it doesn’t mean it will mean anything to the customer!” Those brilliant engineers get so excited about what they can do, for good reason. It was Marketing’s job to keep them focused on the need and how we were filling it, and adding a couple extra features when possible. No one cared back then if your external hard drive had multiple colored lights inside!
It seems that now the engineers are in charge and I call it the Ultimate Revenge of the Nerds. They’re brilliant, mostly introverted, most likely feel like outcasts because finding others as engrossed in tech as they are is rare until college. They’ve been bullied, and now they have control over what we read, what we think is news, who we can talk to, who gets our private info, etc etc etc. We deserve that I guess!