Humane's AI Pin: Here is all the information you need

The Pin doesn't record or listen for wake words, Apple and Google's virtual assistants. Instead it needs to be manually triggered. There is a small light on the device, which will tell you when its listening to you. (Image courtesy: Humane)

Fresh leaks have shed new light on Humane's upcoming AI Pin, which basically functions like a wearable smartphone without a screen.

What is the AI Pin? 

According to a report from The Verge, which managed to secure internal documents from the company ahead of the launch of the device, the AI startup founded by two ex-Apple employees, and with the financial backing of OpenAI and Microsoft, has been teasing its product aggressively.

It's a small, square-shaped device that can magnetically clip onto your clothes or other surfaces, but that's not what makes it special. It has a green laser projector, that can holographically project information onto your hand. It has an onboard camera, which can recognize objects you place before it, and supports hand gestures, which along with voice input will be the primary method of control.

The Pin doesn't record or listen for wake words, Apple and Google's virtual assistants. Instead, it needs to be manually triggered. There is a small light on the device, which will tell you when it's listening to you.

What will it be used for? 

The documents that The Verge discovered say that the Pin is intended to be a standalone device, instead of an accessory. It doesn't need to be hooked up to a computer or smartphone to sync information, and you can use it for communication as well.

It is powered by an unknown Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and runs a custom language model based on OpenAI's GPT-4, the same model that underpins ChatGPT.

Humane is also pitching this device as a replacement for a smartphone, one that seamlessly blends into the background when you are not using it and can be awoken at any time through a manual trigger.

Besides making calls, it can also answer questions, create recommendations for shopping lists, read emails, and give you notifications and alerts when you get them. Eventually, Humane plans to integrate the device into a broader Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.

It runs a specialized operating system called Cosmos, which instead of letting you install apps, will call up the necessary AI tools as you need them, that can attach new features to your chatbot.

It can write messages in your style, and translate languages, and identify objects through its camera. There is also support for music streaming, that picks songs based on your likes and interests. It will also offer its own take on AI photography, though more details aren't available at this time.

While it's not revealed at this time, there will be the central hub of sorts that will allow you to control the device's features, though whether it's an app or a web page, remains to be seen.

Okay. How much will it cost me? 

According to the leaks, $699 (about Rs. 58,000) for the Pin, charger and battery boosters. It also requires a $24 (about Rs. 2,000) per month subscription, that will grant users a phone number and cellular data on Human's own mobile networks based on T-Mobile. It also includes cloud storage for photos and videos and unrestricted access to its AI model.