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The Personal, Wearable Ai Pin That Promises To Be the Best Assistant You've Never Had

May 31, 2024
Humane Inc.'s Ai Pin is trying to replace your smartphone, but it still has a long way to go to get consumer support.

In a race to make the next new "cell phone" device, a wearable from Humane Inc. has entered the market.

The Humane Ai Pin touts being the world's first wearable artificial intelligence (AI) computer that acts as an assistant and a second brain. Its AI gives answers to questions, takes notes for you, takes pictures, makes calls, and sends messages. What sets it apart from a standard smartphone is that it promises to allow users to "stay in the present" by not needing to interact with it as you would with constantly having your head in your phone.

The pin is a standalone wearable device that requires a monthly subscription plan providing unlimited AI queries, unlimited talk, text, and data, and unlimited storage of photos and videos for all customers.

"The potential of Ai Pin is it learns from you and understands you. You can naturally capture a moment, it can remember something for you, or answer questions," said Bethany Bongiorno, CEO and Co-Founder, Humane. "The more you tell your Ai Pin about you, the more useful it will become for you."

It combines AI technology with the internet, giving you access to everything you already do on your phone, except it's in the form of a pin that clips onto your clothing. In place of having a screen, it uses a display that projects text onto the palm of your hand—which can be turned on and off. When you want to engage with it, you simply touch it.

Here's its full range of features:

  • The mic lets users ask questions about anything including how to solve problems, generate ideas, research, and keep up to date on current events
  • Make calls and send messages hands-free while AI helps craft your messages
  • Ask Ai Pin to take photos and 15-second HD videos
  • It can take notes, make a list, or remember something for you. It can also make recommendations for you using what you told it to remember.
  • It can act as an interpreter for over 50 languages
  • Ai Pin can summarize what you missed
  • With a TIDAL subscription on Ai Pin, discover new music, ask questions about what you're listening to, and generate playlists with AI
  • The Laser Ink Display is there when you need it and disappears when you don't by lifting and tilting the palm of your hand.
  • The Ai Pin Bundle comes with an extra battery booster and charge case for all-day use

Cosmos, Humane's proprietary AI operating system, operates on a device and in the cloud for fast and easy product updates. Its cloud architecture eliminates the need to download or manage apps, instantly connecting users to the best AI experience based on their actions and context.

Ai Pin starts at $699 with additional accessories such as clips, latches, and cases, which Humane calls "shields". The Humane plan is $24 per month—using the Humane network connected by T-Mobile—and includes unlimited talk, text, and data; unlimited cloud storage for photos and media; unlimited AI queries: and unrestricted access to the Cosmos operating system.

Humane is currently working on a Beta version of Vision which will allow users to understand and make decisions based on visual input like identifying objects or describing locations.

It's already won multiple awards such as Time's 2023 Inventions of the Year. However, not everyone is impressed with it—namely consumers. It seems it still has quite a ways to go to be truly useful.


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