Humane has finally given everyone a sneak peak at their first product, a wearable AI-driven and screenless computer that it has designed to replace our smartphones and lead us into a post-smartphone world. The startup is particularly notable as it has been founded by two ex-Apple executives and includes a number of ex-Apple employees on its staff. It has also raised well over $200 million in funding and counts among its investors OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Microsoft, Volvo and LG.
The Apple connection with the Humane Ai Pin is instantly apparent when you see the lightbar at the top of the Humane Ai Pin, which recalls Apple’s original multicolored logo with a slight twist. The deliberate use of a lowercase “i” also instantly recalls Apple’s use of the lowercase “i” pre-fix on its various products. Chaudri himself helped to develop the iPhone’s touch-based UI, while his co-founder and partner, Bethany Bongiorno was responsible for project management of iOS and macOS.
The new Humane Ai Pin was actually first demonstrated a month ago at a TED Talk by co-founder Imran Chaudri, with about as much of the device revealed in the teaser image posted on its website today. It is powered by “an advanced Snapdragon platform” and incorporates at least one camera and microphones that are always-on. There is also a speaker built-in for responses from the AI-powered operating system that supports natural language input. There is also a small projector that was demonstrated beaming an incoming call to the palm of Chaudri’s hand during the demo.
In the TED Talk, Chaudri describes the new computing paradigm offered by the Humane Ai Pin as being “screenless, seamless and sensing.” It is in every way the anti-Apple Vision Pro. Without calling out the Vision Pro, Chaudri’s TED Talk dismisses headsets as being just another screen that makes computing less personal and takes people out of their immediate surroundings and connections to others. The Ai Pin addresses this by pushing technology into the background so that it almost disappears with the user remaining completely present in their surroundings. Where Apple is touting “spatial computing”, Humane is touting “contextual computing”.
The Chaudri TED Talk embedded below is worth a look. Even if the Human Ai Pin doesn’t take off as no doubt the company hopes it will, it certainly provides a plausible and interesting paradigm for how AI-driven computing could be seamlessly integrated in our day-to-day lives. No pricing or availability on when the Humane Ai Pin will be released, but they are taking sign-ups for a wait list.
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I have been writing about consumer technology over the past ten years, previously with the former MacNN and Electronista, and now Notebookcheck since 2017. My first computer was an Apple ][c and this sparked a passion for Apple, but also technology in general. In the past decade, I’ve become increasingly platform agnostic and love to get my hands on and explore as much technology as I can get my hand on. Whether it is Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Nintendo, Xbox, or PlayStation, each has plenty to offer and has given me great joy exploring them all. I was drawn to writing about tech because I love learning about the latest devices and also sharing whatever insights my experience can bring to the site and its readership.
