Wearable AI devices appear to be going in two directions — the smartphone replacement tool or filling a specific niche. With the disastrous launch of the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin, the replacement route appears to have failed.
The more successful route appears to be taking the smaller tack, like the Limitless pendant that records conversations and meetings and suggests action items based on what was said.
Or it can be your, uh, friend?
Avi Schiffmann, a Harvard dropout who built a Webby-winning COVID-19 tracking website when he was 17, has produced an AI device called Friend. Like Limitless, Friend is a pendant worn as a necklace.
Today, the company dropped a trailer showing off how the Friend pendant might work and opened up preorders for the off-white version for $99, meant to start shipping in January 2025.
The always-listening pendant is not meant to make you more productive or replace your phone. It's supposed to be a companion that helps combat loneliness.
The device features a button that apparently lights up in different colors and can be tapped to talk to the pendant. The AI will respond in an app that looks like a text message. Because it's always listening, it can also proactively send a message, like in the video when the Friend comments on a show the wearer is watching.
And that seems to be about it.
In an interview, Schiffmann told Wired, "Productivity is over, no one cares. No one is going to beat Apple or OpenAI or all these companies that are building Jarvis. The most important things in your life really are people.”
He believes that having an AI companion via the pendant makes connecting easier than just an app. He has said that the only successful use of large language models is when people tell AI about their day.
“I would really view the product as like an emotional toy. I think the only successful use case of large language models is people talking about their day and their feelings to tools like Replika or Character AI," Schiffmann told TechCrunch in an interview. "But with hardware present, I believe it is a better emotional connect."
Apparently, he started making a productivity AI device called Tab, but has since pivoted to Friend. The pendant idea stuck around.
Schiffmann has responded to potential privacy concerns over the "always listening" tagline by stating that the recordings aren't stored and texts can be deleted anytime.
Will Friend be successful? We have over six months until orders will ship out unless Schiffmann shares the device with reviewers. He's already said he'd send one to YouTuber Marques Brownlee, who stirred up controversy when he actively panned the Humane AI Pin a few months ago.
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