Humane has launched a wearable 'Ai Pin' funded by ex-Apple executives and Microsoft

Humane, a Silicon Valley business with a who's who of co-founders and executives, unveiled a $699 device on Thursday that hopes to bring cutting-edge artificial intelligence to a lapel near you.

The Ai Pin, as the device is known, is designed to be worn on clothing and may be tapped to chat to a virtual assistant powered by OpenAI technology and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) cloud computing capacity. It displays text and monochromatic images on the user's hand using a laser projection device.

Humane, founded by ex-Apple employees who worked on the iPhone, is one of many startups in Silicon Valley looking for the next wave of consumer gadgets. However, Humane has emphatically rejected the mixed-reality headsets in development by companies such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), with Humane co-founder and President Imran Chaudhri declaring earlier this year during a demonstration of the Ai Pin that "the future is not on your face."

Instead, Humane is delivering a device with no standard screen that interacts with the user nearly exclusively through artificial intelligence. The virtual assistant on the Pin promises to outperform others by producing messages in the user's tone of speech and providing a "Catch Me Up" tool to summarize a cluttered email inbox. The Pin also has a camera that can snap images or use computer vision to scan objects like food and provide an estimate of its nutritional composition to the user.

"Ai Pin is the embodiment of our vision to integrate AI into the fabric of daily life, enhancing our capabilities without overshadowing our humanity," Chaudhri stated in a press release.

The Ai Pin will be available in the United States beginning November 16, according to the manufacturer. Microsoft, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and others have contributed $241 million to Humane.