Buzz has been building around secretive tech startup Humane for over a year. At his TED last month, Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri demonstrated his AI-powered wearable the company is building as a smartphone replacement. Part of the video was leaked online after the event, but the full video is now available to watch.
The device looks like a small black puck that slips into your breast pocket, with a camera, projector, and speakers sticking out on top. Through her 13-minute presentation, Chaudhri walks through some use cases for Humane’s gadgets.
Chaudhri, who has been a designer at Apple for more than 20 years, pitched the device as salve for the world covered in screens. “Some people think AR/VR glasses like this are the answer,” he says, adding an image of a VR headset behind him. He argued that it would put “further barriers to
Humane devices, whatever their names are, are designed to be more natural by avoiding screens. Gadgets work alone. “It doesn’t need to be paired with a smartphone or other device,” he said.
This is an impressive demo and a great idea. But it leaves a lot of open questions, from how authentic this demo is to how this device actually fits into our lives.
Chaudhri said Humane will have more to share in the “coming months.” We look forward to learning more and getting more answers.
