“Humane AI pin” works as a wearable smartphone that projects calls, apps and more onto your hands

Humane AI pin introduces a non-physical smartphone

Humane AI Pin is a wearable projector which is pinned clothes and functions as a non-physicist smartphones by flashing apps, calls and voice assistance on hands or surfaces. Built from the ground up using artificial intelligence and from an ex Apple design director Imran Chaudhri and his team, Humane AI Pin, present a taste of its overall functionality at TED2023 in Vancouver, Canada. From its initial design, the finger-sized stud features cameras to scan and see its surroundings, hidden sensors to activate it, and built-in speakers.

Chaudhri conducts the introduction where he can be seen answering his wife’s call as the pin attached to his jacket flashes the call on his palm. The moment he calls his wife Bethany Bongiorno, also an Apple alumnus in software engineering, Chaudhri is able to answer the call not by tapping the green button usually found on smartphones but apparently by his command lexical of “I’ll have to take it.” This phrase stands for answering the call, thus activating the call answering feature.

Chaudhri adds that the user doesn’t even need a smartphone or other electronic device to pair with the Humane AI Pin: they just need to wear it or pin it to their clothing to activate its features. It might sound like an episode of Black Mirror, imagining people in a world where technology has become even more futuristic, but slowly and surely, Humane is aiming to really release the wearable projector and smartphone in the near future.

images courtesy of Humane | screenshot courtesy of TED

Wearable projector with smartphone functionality

Human AI Pin uses optical sensors that enable contextual and environmental computing interactions to develop seamless, screen-less, sensing-based technology for the wearable projector and smartphone. In another example seen in the video, Chaudhri asks the brooch where he can find a gift for his wife before leaving town the next day. He does this by putting his finger on the pin first, implying where the sensors are. After a few seconds, perhaps taken from analyzing the question and searching for the appropriate answer, Humane AI Pin gives a concrete answer – Vancouver’s Granville Island, in this case – to his question.

The wearable smartphone and projector also work as a voice assistant in addition to web search and quick questions. It seems that it can also become a personal assistant who reminds the user of his health problems and helps him with his indecision when it comes to decisions regarding his health. For example, Chaudhri holds up a bar of chocolate in front of the pin and asks if he can eat it. Humane AI Pin responds by giving a description of the candy bar before saying ‘given your intolerance, you may want to avoid it.’

Chaudhri believes Ai offers a huge opportunity for people to redefine their relationship with technology and will enable personal mobile computing to become faster, more powerful and easier to use. “The first Humane device will allow people to take Ai with them anywhere and we are really looking forward to revealing more at our launch later this year,” Adds. Humane’s first device will be powered by an advanced Snapdragon platform from Qualcomm Technologies.

Humane AI Pin is a wearable projector that flashes apps to hands or surfaces, functioning like a non-physical smartphone

technology can answer phone calls using voice commands

the device has built-in cameras, sensors and speakers

visual interpretation of the device

Humane says it plans to release the device by the end of 2023



Introducing Humane AI Pin by Imran Chaudhri

project information:

first name: Human AI pin

to boot: Human

founders: Imran Chaudhri, Bethany Bongiorno

matthew burgos | designboom

03 July 2023