How Humane.
Humane, a startup created by ex-Apple employees, recently showed off their first major project. An AI-powered wearable which bears something of a resemblance to Star Trek‘s com badges.
The device, which is screenless, was debuted in a TED Talk on Thursday, and the footage has slowly leaked its way onto the internet. And demoing the device was none other than Humane’s Chairman, Imran Chaudhri – formerly a director of design at Apple.
One of the first features of the device, and likely the primary reason for the AI integration, is translation. Chaudhri demonstrated this feature by having the device translate everything he said into French; in a voice similar, if not identical to his own. “This is not a deepfake, in fact, it’s deeply profound. This is my AI giving me the ability to speak any language,” he said.
Chaudhri also demonstrated what making a phone call with the device was like. There’s no screen, as mentioned, but it does come equipped with a tiny projector, which can project the display onto your hand or any other suitable object, allowing you to see who’s calling. In the demo, it was Chaudhri’s wife.
Among other functions, it can sum up recent meetings and notifications, and even answer questions. Most notably, however, it can use its front-facing camera to determine answers to questions with a visible component. Chaudhri holds up a chocolate bar and asks whether it’s okay for him to eat it, to which it responds: “A milky bar contains cocoa butter. Given your intolerance you may want to avoid it.”
As for the details, though, there’s nothing yet. Size, weight, battery life, price; all unknown variables. That said, Humane did recently receive another $100 million in Series C round, bringing their total funds raised up to $230 million.
Source: PC Mag
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