It has been over a year since the secretive tech startup Humane causes a stir. At TED last month, Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri demonstrated the'wearable equipped with artificial intelligence that the company is building for replace smartphones. Snippets of the video were leaked online after the event, but you can now see the full video.
Humane's proof asks many questions and leaves few answers
The device appears to be a small black disk that slips into your breast pocket, with a camera, projector and speaker popping out of the top. During the 13-minute presentation, Chaudhri illustrated a series of use cases for the Humane gadget.
Humane's device, whatever it's called, was designed to feel more natural than a smartphone. The gadget it works by itself e it doesn't need a screen. “You don't need a smartphone or other device to pair it,” Chaudhri said.
This is an impressive demonstration and a brilliant idea. But it leaves a lot of questions open: How "real" is this proof? And how will this device actually fit into our lives?
These are just some of the main questions, but there are many more questions about how the device works. First, you don't understand how it can work if you don't wear a shirt or jacket with a breast pocket. Furthermore, in the demonstration it is not clear how Chaudhri manages to accept the call: he is never seen pressing buttons or giving a voice command.
During the translation demonstration, how did the device know which language to translate into?
How does this device get all the digital information, like contacts or meeting information? Does it sync with a companion app? Does it hook into existing services like Gmail and Outlook? How much can the device do without an internet connection?
Chaudri described the device as “secure and privacy-conscious” – does this include the privacy of people facing the chest camera? In short, many questions and for the moment no answers. Over time, it will be up to the company itself to shed light on these (and many other) questions.
The complete video of the Humane demonstration
Chaudhri says Humane will have more to share in the "coming months." We look forward to hearing more and hopefully many more responses. In the meantime, here's the full Humane demo video, released by Ted's official YouTube channel.
