Nov. 10, 2023
On November 9th, Humane, an emerging artificial intelligence company co-founded by former Apple designers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, launched its first product – the Humane AI Pin. Investors in the company include renowned institutions such as OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Microsoft, LG, SK, Volvo, and Qualcomm.
The design concept of the Humane AI Pin is to replace traditional smartphones, providing users with ubiquitous AI access in a brand-new, screenless, conversational form, turning the palm into a small display. It is reported that the product will make its debut in the U.S. market, with official sales starting on November 16th, priced at $699. Consumers will need to pay a monthly T-Mobile subscription fee of $24, which covers mobile data and phone number services.
Through the AI Pin, Humane envisions a future where technology is omnipresent yet unobtrusive – a significant step toward a natural yet powerful digital world. So, what cutting-edge technologies does this product feature?
▶ Hardware: Ultra-Wide-Angle + TOF
The Pin, roughly the size of a matchbox, consists of two parts: a square device and a battery pack that magnetically attaches to clothing or other surfaces. It is equipped with advanced hardware, including a 13MP 120° ultra-wide-angle camera capable of capturing photos at resolutions up to 4208x3120. It also features a TOF sensor, accelerometer, dual microphone array, and gyroscope to sense motion and the surrounding environment.
Internally, it is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm AI Engine Snapdragon processor, operating at 2.1GHz to enable real-time, smooth, and reliable AI interactions. Additionally, it comes with 32GB of local storage, ensuring users can use it without worries.
Notably, the Pin has no screen, only a touchpad. Through its TOF sensor and laser beam scanning projection system, it can project a "laser ink display" onto the user's palm, boasting a 125° field of view and 720p resolution.
It also supports automatic tracking within a range of 20cm to 40cm. At a distance of 30cm, its field of view measures 18.2° in width, 13.3° in height, and 22.4° diagonally. Furthermore, the laser output of this product meets the IEC60825-1:2014 Class 2 standard, ensuring users can enjoy its convenience safely.
▶ Interaction: Voice + Gesture
In terms of interaction, the Pin uses voice commands and gesture controls to switch and operate various functions. As the core feature of the AI Pin, Humane has named its voice assistant "Ai Mic," built on powerful large AI models such as ChatGPT, with extensive application scenarios and service capabilities.
The Pin has visual recognition capabilities, easily handling tasks like web searches, voice translation, food identification, and calorie analysis. Users can make calls, send messages, or query information simply via voice commands. It can also display the current time and date, surrounding environment, and even identify the online price of physical books.
When the palm enters its field of view, text, images, and notifications are projected onto the user's palm (referred to as the "laser ink display"), allowing one-handed interaction.
Tilting the hand switches between different options; to execute a selected operation, simply bring the thumb and index finger together in an OK gesture. For touchpad operations, a single finger tap and hold on Ai Mic triggers voice input, while double-tapping starts or stops calls or music playback, and swipe gestures adjust songs and volume. For two-finger operations, pressing Ai Mic on the touchpad enables translation, and double-tapping the button takes photos (video recording is expected to be launched in 2024). As the product evolves, more practical functions such as navigation and shopping will be added and expanded in the future.
Moreover, unlike regular action cameras, the Pin has a curved top design housing an ultra-wide-angle lens, TOF sensor, and projector. This allows the camera stem to tilt downward to adapt to different body structures and optimize projection and shooting effects.
According to Humane CEO Bethany Bongiorno, the company's new AI Pin product has broad appeal, and they are confident in it, calling it the world's first "Contextual Computer." She believes that people are currently full of curiosity about artificial intelligence and want to understand how it impacts their lives.
The Pin offers a brand-new approach. While TOF technology is already widely used in the projection field, the Pin stands out in the market with its groundbreaking product form, successfully integrating TOF technology into a smaller, more portable design, allowing users to experience the charm of AI technology anytime, anywhere.
In the future, Sunny OIT will also explore more cutting-edge technologies and product forms with more partners, focusing on robotic vision to create more possibilities for industries and people's lives.
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