Humane AI Pin is a potential game changer

The other day, Humane revealed the full form factor of its inaugural device, the Humane Ai Pin, as part of a collaboration with Paris-based fashion house Coperni.

During the show, Humane presented the new form factor of the Ai Pin and displayed the versatility of how the device can be worn — showcasing the company's vision for the emerging convergence between humans and AI. The collaboration was born out of a shared belief between Humane and Coperni that design, creativity and technology can be a huge driver and cultural force for change.

What's Humane Ai Pin all about?

The Humane Ai Pin is a screenless, standalone device and software platform built from the ground up for AI. The intelligent clothing-based wearable uses a range of sensors that enable natural and intuitive compute interactions and is designed to weave seamlessly into users' day-to-day lives.

The device also follows the privacy-first design, with aspects such as no wake word and, therefore, not "always on" listening — reflecting Humane's vision of building products that place trust at the center.

The Ai Pin does not need to be paired with a smartphone or other companion device; it includes AI-powered optical recognition and a laser-projected display, all powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform.

The complete functionalities of the Humane Ai Pin, the first built specifically to harness AI for the post-smartphone era of mobile computing, will be unveiled in full on November 9.

We do know that the device will be able to receive and manage phone calls, answer queries, translate sentences into different languages, and provide summaries of recent emails, calendar events, and messages.

Mobile health capabilities

One of the key aspects of the Humane AI Pin is its focus on wellness and mental health. The device is equipped with sophisticated algorithms that can detect signs of stress, fatigue, or anxiety in the user's voice and body language. Once detected, the AI Pin can provide suggestions, mindfulness exercises, and even prompts to take a break.

In addition, it can also provide dietary recommendations based on individual health profiles. For instance, users will be able to hold up a bar of chocolate in front of the pin and ask if they can eat it. Humane AI Pin can answer by giving a description of the chocolate bar first before saying something like, "given your intolerance, you may want to avoid it."

On the record

"We have been admirers of Arnaud and Sébastien at Coperni for some time and our shared passion for the union of design, creativity and technology is at the heart of this collaboration," commented Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, Humane's founders and former Apple employees. "Our relationship with technology is changing profoundly, becoming even more personal as our devices morph into extensions of our bodies, minds and hearts. We're excited to show the full capabilities of the device which we believe will usher in a new paradigm of ambient, AI-driven computing on November 9."

"We like to think of Coperni as a platform to showcase any form of technology. We are proud to invite Humane and celebrate together our passion for innovation. To us, the Ai Pin is a beacon of the future, aligning with our vision of forward-thinking fashion," added Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, founders of Coperni.

The context

It will be interesting to see whether a device like the Humane Ai Pin can replace smartphones at some point in the future.

Among those believing that it can make a dent is Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI - which we know as the company behind ChatGPT. In fact, Altman is one of the biggest investors in Humane — with OpenAI providing the "brains" behind the Ai Pin.

But can a device without a screen really replace a smartphone? It's a hard sell for most consumers, but we can imagine doctors and nurses wearing them while in the hospital setting.

We'll be watching this space. Stay tuned.