Humane’s AI Pin is a screenless, wearable smartphone that’s straight out of Black Mirror
Humane has officially launched its AI Pin, a type of wearable phone that has been leaked in the past, leaving many questions unanswered – and the invention honestly still has us scratching our heads. Just like the price, but we’ll get to that later.
So where do we start? The AI pin is a square gadget with telephone capabilities, but has no screen. It attaches to your shirt (or other clothing) with a magnetic clip, which is also the battery for the device. This clip can be replaced with another one if you run out of juice halfway through the day.
The engine is a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and the Pin is equipped with a camera, speaker and motion sensors, but as mentioned there is no screen. However, there is a built-in projector, as we saw in the leaked video earlier this year, so you can have some sort of display projected onto your hand when you hold it up to the device.
So how do you operate the AI Pin? By using your voice, or with a touchpad on the surface that allows gesture control – and a camera that can scan objects.
The idea is that you can make a phone call (obviously), have a sentence translated into another language on the spot (and say it in your own voice, which is pretty cool), and get a summary of your recent emails, just to make sure just a few examples to give. There are other tricks too, like streaming music (via Tidal).
As the name suggests, AI is an integral part of Humane’s wearable, and you get the option to send as many questions as you want to the models (ChatGPT and Microsoft’s AI), all of which are tied to the subscription on the Pin. Yes, subscription – now let’s talk about costs.
Available to order from November 16, the AI Pin costs $699 (about £569 / AU$1,090) upfront for the device (and two spare battery clips), plus a $24 monthly subscription in the US. (on T-Mobile). This means you get a phone number and unlimited data traffic, and the pin allows unlimited use of AI with a cloud storage vault for media.
Analysis: too many holes?
The problem with the AI Pin is that, although at first glance it seems like a cool novelty – and the device is certainly innovative, there is no denying it in that respect – we have a lot of concerns about its usability in practice. world.
Interacting with the AI Pin with your voice may be all well and good in theory, but as anyone who has a smart speaker knows, the likes of Alexa can sometimes be spectacularly bad at recognizing your commands. And gesture-based commands can be tricky too (especially when it involves something strapped to your shirt or jacket that you’re looking at).
Price-wise, it’s a big ask for what is a very small phone-like wearable, especially when you consider the subscription costs on top. We worry about not having a screen, and of course there’s another problem: appearing to talk to your jacket in public probably isn’t at the top of everyone’s list of things to do every day.
Of course, we need the AI Pin to properly test and evaluate its various functions, but fears are our main first thoughts. And to be honest, that price is downright terrifying, for something that, let’s face it, can’t really replace your all-singing, all-dancing smartphone, but can only complement it.