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AI Technology

The Humane Ai Pin Launches Its Campaign To Replace Phones (bloomberg.com) 85

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Humane, the startup founded by former Apple design and engineering team Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, has officially launched its long-awaited Ai Pin -- making a splashy foray into the nascent field of artificial intelligence hardware. From a report: The device can magnetically clip onto clothing and will cost $699 with a $24-a-month subscription -- which will come with unlimited data and phone calls. The company also said it would partner with T-Mobile for phone service and Microsoft and OpenAI for AI technology. The device will be available to order starting Nov. 16.

Tech and AI enthusiasts have watched Humane closely after Chaudhri and Bongiorno, husband-and-wife co-founders, started the company in 2018. It has kept most of its work under wraps, with some notable exceptions. In April, Chaudhri gave a demo of the device at a TED Talk. In September, the pin adorned models including Naomi Campbell at Paris Fashion Week. The Humane Ai Pin is meant to eventually be a smartphone replacement. The subscription plan comes with its own phone number, and it doesn't need to be paired with a phone. The device is screenless, and people will interact with it via voice, touchpad, gesture or by holding up objects. It also features a laser projector that can emit text onto the user's hand.
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The Humane Ai Pin Launches Its Campaign To Replace Phones More

The Humane Ai Pin Launches Its Campaign To Replace Phones

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  • Recipe for Cacophony (Score:4, Interesting)

    by devslash0 ( 4203435 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @01:26PM (#63993405)

    Imagine a couple people trying to use a device like this, which mostly interact by voice, in the same space...

    • Now imagine public transportation, like a bus, a plane, a train. Then imagine a movie theater, shopping mall, doctor's office waiting room, restaurants, etc. Everyone using their devices via voice only.
    • The ongoing conversations can be funny, though. I know it's not AI, but I have a couple of ELIZA scripts that spend hours talking to each other in Second Life, and I've sen other AIs' attempts to converse.

  • Combadge? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I've been following this for a while now. Weird that I haven't seen mention of the STNG combadge because this is a ripoff of that.

    The main problem with this type of device is that you have to speak to it. That'snot going to work in a crowd. Even if it does "work" it would be annoying as hell. People are already awful with Bluetooth headsets.

    So this is going to be another Google Glass(hole) type thing. Interesting idea and tech but poorly implemented.

    • Re:Combadge? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @01:31PM (#63993431) Journal
      Thank you for mentioning the STNG com badges. That was my thought as well.

      People are already awful with Bluetooth headsets.

      Or wandering about with their phone on speaker so everyone around can hear you, your husband, and the tv show he's watching while you discuss an item from the grocery shelf. No, this never happened, why would you think that?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      AI pin, what's my credit card number?

      It's happening to streamers already:

      https://www.reddit.com/r/Watch... [reddit.com]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Xenx ( 2211586 )
        In all fairness, this device doesn't use a wake word. You have to touch the pad to wake it. Sure it wouldn't stop things outright, but should mitigate the problem.

        • So it's like a Star Trek: TNG communicator with far less style and functionality?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Xenx ( 2211586 )
            Arguably, most of the functionality of the combadge is just scifi future tech versions of modern features. This has those modern equivalents, and includes things like the projector. So, arguably, this has more functionality than a combadge.

            Now, that isn't to say this is better/cooler. Just more feature rich.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JackAxe ( 689361 )
      That's what I was thinking. Maybe it was their inspiration? It has to have been given the popularity of Star Trek. During the promo video on their site, the guy says play scifi music as a demo.

    • Re:Combadge? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anachronous Coward ( 6177134 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @03:03PM (#63993689)

      What we really need is a phone that can double as a phaser. Bonus if it can be overloaded and used as a hand grenade.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sconeu ( 64226 )

      I was coming here to mention the combadges.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      I used to be a mobile developer back in the days of Palm Pilots and Windows CE PDAs. Back then the buzzword was "convergence"; all the information devices you carried would get rolled up into one thing. Well, we've got that, and it's so fundamental to the way we think about mobile devices we actualy can't see the drawbacks.

      Trying to make a tiny form factor device like this do *everything* is really that knee-jerk convergence thinking continuing to drive the way we conceive of systems. Sure, if you don't

  • These people need to do a couple surveys to see how many random strangers are interested in this, because it appears to be a solution without a problem.

    • Re:Because people make voice calls with phones? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @01:46PM (#63993463)

      Most of my phone use now is Internet and texting, and games when I'm waiting. The camera's occasionally useful too.

      The time for a Star Trek com badge is past, we've done better.

      • Re:Because people make voice calls with phones? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @02:30PM (#63993593)

        The time for a Star Trek com badge is past, we've done better.

        We spend several centuries developing the complexity of the modern languages used by billions today, only to devolve back into using our opposable thumbs typing on a virtual keyboard we promised was gonna be obsolete 30 years ago because aforementioned, communicating with pictures now..also known as what neanderthals were scrawling on cave walls several thousand years ago.

        Oh yeah. We've dun dun betterrer alright. The Missing Link should be named Fuckin' Irony.

        • How is typing a devolution? Written language is surely more advanced than verbal language, and societies that adopted writing early demonstrated noticeable technological advancement. Verbal language allows us to communicate. Written language allows us to articulate highly complex ideas.

          There's a reason we only have Julius Caesar's perspective of the Gaulic wars and most of what we know about the Gauls comes from him.

          • How is typing a devolution?

            It was more a realization than anything after listening to one-too-many salesman on the computer convention floor selling the advantages of talk-clicking your Win9x start menu alive, along with one-too-many ads bragging about now naturally dragons speak humanese.

            Like many, I've spent a lot on keyboards that ironically emulate a near 40-year old keyboard design, and laughed a lot at those selling alternatives. Regardless, today's generation often listens to movies and videos at faster-than-normal speed, mak

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by geekmux ( 1040042 )

            How is typing a devolution? Written language is surely more advanced than verbal language, and societies that adopted writing early demonstrated noticeable technological advancement. Verbal language allows us to communicate. Written language allows us to articulate highly complex ideas.

            Gee, that's odd. And here I thought written language allowed others to ASS-U-ME and 'articulate' far too wrongly about implied tone, intention, sarcasm, and all the other shit that condemns people all the time when the written word is misinterpreted far more often than a recorded voice.

            There's a reason we only have Julius Caesar's perspective of the Gaulic wars and most of what we know about the Gauls comes from him.

            Uh huh. There's also a reason we have far more than 31 flavors of the Bible too.

            • Just because people frequently make the mistake of somehow believing that writing captures their tone doesn't mean that writing is a lesser medium. It just means that they are lesser writers.

            • None of those are arguments against writing and pro-voice - those are just red herrings related to obtuse, ignorant and stupid people.

              Also, if we've learned anything from the resurgence of fascists and racists around us, it is that they will often use "implied tone, [hidden] intention, sarcasm, and all the other shit that condemns people all the time" as a defense that they were "only joking".
              I.e. Humans are perfectly capable of lying, both verbally and textually. Written lies can be look up later more easi

          • Agreed. Written or typed language is much more useful, and it befuddles me that more people don't use it. I miss the days of tactile cellphone keyboards, where you could type without looking. Seems no-one cares about ergonomics or responsiveness any more.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by RobinH ( 124750 )
        I think I still occasionally need a phone (to see a calendar, take a picture, look at a picture, etc.) but I appreciate the attempt to get rid of the phone at least somewhat. It's intrusive in many situations. That said, I don't think this will be successful.

        • The phone can be turned off, put in a pocket, left at home etc. So can this thing. The difference is, if you're wearing this thing, you'll look like a jerk. Not that I'm saying this will kill the market - bluetooth headsets make people look like jerks too and those have been popular for over a decade.

          • The bigger difference is that your phone has more functionality and is more practical.

            This thing is a significant downgrade from a phone and a Bluetooth headset.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by vlad30 ( 44644 )
            Haven't seen anyone use a bluetooth headset lately everyone has AirPods which make you look like your listening to music and only occasionally talking to yourself

  • does that $24 plan have roaming? high speed cap?

    • It would be funny if this thing just ends up popular but only being used as a low cost wireless modem for the dataplan.

  • own phone number?? why can't you just use your own sim with your own number and plan?

    • Because if they made it frictionless like that, pretty much all of Humane AI's users would quickly move their SIM to a different device once they find out what a half-baked concept this actually is.

    • Because SIM trays take up space inside small devices, and require extra engineering and volume for ejection mechanisms and liquid / dust proofing seals in comparison to an eSIM that can be provisioned over WiFi and is likely already included in whatever SoC or 5G modem they're using.

  • Sensitive messages, emails and the likes? (Score:3)

    by WereCatf ( 1263464 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @01:53PM (#63993491)

    Oh, wait, in the modern world there is no place for anything sensitive! Let's just blast all those messages and emails out loud for everyone around you to hear and not give you any way of replying, either, without letting everyone around you hear every single thing! Totally not going to cause a lot of trouble for people, no, sirree.

    Ooorrrr maybe this is just a blindingly stupid idea and it'll get scrapped soon after launch as people realize all the caveats.

    • Does this actually have speakers? Surely 99.9% of everybody would use it with earbuds

    • Are you suggesting this thing isn't capable of bluetooth audio device pairing?

      I get the complaint on replying, but there's still very inexpensive methods of having text-to-speech remain private: a bluetooth earpiece.

  • Subset of a phone... (Score:3)

    by Junta ( 36770 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @01:54PM (#63993495)

    Paying a pretty steep price for a device that's tied to T-mobile and can't do anything a traditional phone device can't also do, but can't provide a decent screen nor decent touch interface...

    Yeah, this will be a complete and utter failure...

  • Going for gold.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by MpVpRb ( 1423381 ) on Thursday November 09, 2023 @02:01PM (#63993519)

    ..in the olympics of stupid ideas
    Does anybody actually believe this is a good idea?
    Or is it just some kind of sick joke
    Projecting a crappy image onto your hand? Really?
    Seems more like a Monty Python routine

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      It is clearly a project aimed at separating the gullible from their money.

      • They already did that when they got a couple hundred million dollars in venture capital. Actual sales aren't going to hold a candle to the cash they've already burned.
  • Looks like the projector is monochrome? Who wants a monochrome "screen" for anything these days? Along with the privacy weirdness of everyone hearing my calls or being able to command my device, pass.

    • You're not watching movies on it. It projects the text of your text messages.

    • I don't know why so many commenters in this thread have forgotten that bluetooth audio is a thing.

      If you have earbuds connected, why would the device pay attention to any commands not being transmitted from those? And also, you have to touch the device before it goes into command mode, so that basically takes care of all your bitching except for the monochrome projector - how many colors do you need your text messages in?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Orleron ( 835910 )
        If the premise is that this device is supposed to REPLACE a phone, then the "screen" or projector should not be monochrome. So it has nothing to do with how many colors someone wants to use for reading text. It has more to do with whether you can surf the web with it and watch movies. Otherwise why would anyone ditch a phone? If the premise is that this is in addition to a phone, like a smart watch is, then monochrome is fine, but they shouldn't advertise it as a phone killer if so.

  • Nothing creepy about this. No, not at all. /s

    Pretty-much useless, with no display. Unless paired with glasses, which is even more creepy, but that we will eventually have to get used to.

    How is this "humane"? Did they throw in a buzz-word there.

    Oh, I see it projects an image on your hand?

    Talk to the hand! LOL

    Meanwhile, I have a watch that does much of what this does, without the creepy part. I can go out without a phone - for a walk, for a bike ride, and still stay in touch and have a little screen with som

  • A simple T-9 pad, 5G cell radio, bluetooth transmitter and battery in a small form factor that can be a pocket watch, watch, pin or live in your pocket. You can dial using the T-9 or by voice and send/receive texts through the same interface. No displays or lasers required.

    • A simple T-9 pad, 5G cell radio, bluetooth transmitter and battery in a small form factor that can be a pocket watch, watch, pin or live in your pocket. You can dial using the T-9 or by voice and send/receive texts through the same interface. No displays or lasers required.

      I think you just invented the Nokia 3310 and added modern radios. There's probably a market for it though!

  • Ah, Imran Chaudhri, the idiot who convinced Steve Jobs that iPhone didn't need a back button. I'm guessing his device will lack all buttons whatsoever.

  • Sign me up. Sounds like it can do a ton of things a smartphone can’t (/s).

    But wait, the device will use scanning and projection technology to make up for it. Apple, Google and Microsoft can’t even make that tech work well in a small consumer device, but I’m totally sure this husband-and-wife team will knock it out of the park.

    And all for less than the cost of a last-gen iphone and a cheap cellular plan.

  • I'll stand up for this one. A lot of people (including myself, to some lesser extent) are addicted to their screens. OK, in this modern world, you sort of need to have a cell phone. This is a way to stay connected without having your Tiktok-addiction-device on your person at all times. Speakerphone is no big deal. Surely the device will connect to a pair of bluetooth headphones, and then it's just the same as any other phone.

    Too expensive, I'd say, but for some people it's worth it. My main objection

    • I'll stand up for this one. A lot of people (including myself, to some lesser extent) are addicted to their screens. OK, in this modern world, you sort of need to have a cell phone. This is a way to stay connected without having your Tiktok-addiction-device on your person at all times. Speakerphone is no big deal. Surely the device will connect to a pair of bluetooth headphones, and then it's just the same as any other phone.

      Too expensive, I'd say, but for some people it's worth it. My main objection would be that an Apple Watch with cell phone connectivity is a better solution for screen addicts.

      You can get a dumbphone for about twenty bucks. For fifty you can get a nice one. I'm very happy with my Nokia 2720.

      [offtopic] The KaiOS dumbphone operating system is a bit bloated and needs some tweaking to make it usable, get rid of google's tracking etc. KaiOS is like a committee sat down and said "we need an old-school phone without all the cruft of a smartphone," then they met a week later and said "oh but we still need instant messaging, navigation and voice activation" and bolted a bunch of half-bake

  • They will be sitting in the doctor's office, waiting patiently for their appointment to start... reach into their pockets and pull out... nothing. They've got nothing to do now. I don't really see it as likely that people are going to sit there and watch text projected on to their palm scroll by while they wait for the next thing they've got going on to happen. (Or when they want to look busy when bored.)
    • They will do what they did before, browse idly through decades-old issues of "Physician and car" magazines.

      (Seriously, that's an actual magazine here in the Netherlands: "Arts en Auto". It started as a members bulletin issued by a car insurer that targeted medical professionals, hence the name... and there were piles of them in every single waiting room in the country)
      • Well, yeah, lol, but that's just one example. We use phones for reading all the time. I'd imagine that most of that time it would NOT suffice to merely project that same reading on to our palm.

    • I was unaware that buying one of these things completely pre-empts and cancels one's ability to slightly think ahead and bring a different portable device / book / magazine if you know you're going to be waiting around. I mean, what do people do on subways and multi-hour aircraft trips where they don't have cell service? Immediately have a panic attack, or just continue riding the train / airplane until they DO have connectivity at the next stop?

      $100 says it supports bluetooth audio, and will have some fo

  • If the product was smaller, more stylish, and significantly cheaper, then maybe. At $700, forget it!
    If you can make something that looks like a broach and that can pair with earbuds and give internet access for say $200, then maybe. But at $700 any random phone kept in a bag would have similar utility.

    • Yeah it looks ugly as sin, and not particularly premium either. I think even cosplaying Star Trek fans will stay away from this thing.

  • If the Ai Pin supports that, we'd still have people talking out loud, but we can't hear the other side
    and it would work well with the bluetooth speaker phones in cars

    I'd use one then

  • It's a prototype too

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