The smartphone revolutionized personal computing, essentially putting the productivity and entertainment capabilities of PCs in a device that can slot conveniently in your pocket. And while the modern smartphone with its touchscreen interface has been around for the better part of two decades, it’s a device that feels like it will stay relevant in the foreseeable future. Of course, not everybody feels the same way and the Humane AI Pin is a new device that’s looking to take the place of the smartphone.
A wearable device, it does most of the things that a smartphone can do without the need for a built-in display. From voice calls and messaging to managing your schedule and finding information online, this device offers a viable alternative to doing it on a rectangular screen.
The Humane AI Pin is a tile-shaped device that’s designed to magnetically attach to your clothing, preferably along the chest line. It has a microphone and a speaker, so you can issue voice commands and have it respond in turn, essentially serving as a wearable Amazon Echo. In case you don’t want the speaker announcing its responses to your commands out loud, you can also pair it to your Bluetooth headphones, while a touchpad out front lets you interact using gestures instead of having to say everything out loud.
It uses a mix of proprietary software and OpenAI’s GPT systems, so it has cutting-edge AI on tap, allowing it to respond intelligently to most anything you throw its way. Because of the intelligent generative AI, you can also instruct the device to write messages and responses for you in whatever style you want (including your own).
The Humane AI Pin has a built-in projector that can beam images to any surface you put in front of the device (e.g. your palm) for those times you need it to give a visual response, such as when you want to see a text message or a notification. There’s also a camera out front, which you can use to take photos and videos much like any normal smartphone camera, albeit without the benefit of a screen for framing the scene. You can also use the camera as a way to gather visual information for the device, such as when you want to know whether the price on a product you’re looking at is higher or lower than what’s available online.
An integrated light regularly blinks whenever the device’s camera or microphone is active, by the way, so people know when they can potentially be recorded, ensuring it doesn’t cause any privacy concerns. It doesn’t use a built-in battery for power. Instead, the battery is integrated into the magnetic pin holding the device in place, with the ability to swap in a new battery on the fly, so you can wear the device full-time without needing to plug it in at any point (you can charge the batteries separately).
Does the Humane AI Pin make an adequate replacement for a smartphone? Probably not, but it does make a good start for what may be useful device going forward. It’s priced at $699 and requires a $24 per month subscription for use on T-Mobile’s network.