Humane’s $700 wearable Ai Pin lets you control music using hand gestures
The device connects to Tidal and has a built-in speaker that, when played, creates a bubble of sound that doesn’t bleed from your personal space.
Credit: Humane
San Francisco tech startup Humane has launched a new product, the Ai Pin – a wearable mini smartphone that lets you play and control music, take photos, and more.
It’s a small, square device, weighing just 55 grams – nearly the weight of a tennis ball – that can be attached to clothing. It comes with a magnetic battery pack, a Battery Booster, which is placed on the inside of a shirt or other clothing item to provide a perpetual power system.
In most cases, users are encouraged to pin the device to their chest, so that a built-in laser projector can be projected onto their palm. This projected interface is where you can see the weather, text people, decide who you want to call, and, most importantly, control your music.
The Ai Pin has a built-in speaker system designed to create an intimate ‘sound bubble’ so that users can enjoy music discreetly. The Pin supports Bluetooth headphones for personalised listening, and the voice assistant, Ai Mic, taps into large language models, such as ChatGPT, letting you request and enjoy music with your voice.
It’s connected to the streaming platform, Tidal, for which users are provided with an account upon purchase, so you can reach your favourite music and podcasts. The device’s laser projector lets you navigate your music options by projecting visual cues onto your palm. You can also use hand gestures to skip, fast forward or pause tracks.
Humane emphasizes transparency by indicating when the 13-megapixel camera or microphone is in use through a “trust light.” There are no startup gestures for the device, the brand says, which means its mic or camera is never operating when you don’t want them to.
“AI now has become something that everyone is curious about and really wants to know how it’s going to change their life,” Humane CEO Bethany Bongiorno tells Wired. “We’re offering the first opportunity to bring it with you everywhere. It’s really touching people from every background, every age group, globally, in terms of what we’re feeling and seeing in feedback.”
The Ai Pin comes in three colours and is expected to ship in early 2024. Those in the US can start placing orders now, but a date for UK orders has not yet been announced. It costs $700.
Find out more about Humane’s Ai Pin via Humane.
