When Humane released Ai Pin, the San Francisco-based gadget maker envisioned a world with purpose-built AI devices, one that you carried around in your pocket.
However, reviews and sales were not very good, and at one point returns reportedly began to outnumber sales. And Humane recently lowered the price of the device from $700 to $500. The AI device is still on sale, but it's unclear what the company will do next, at least not without funding (more than $230 million).
Now, Humane is touting something new. It's an operating system called CosmOS that can (potentially) significantly improve every technology device in your life. The company showed off a slick demo video showing the operating system running on car entertainment systems, smart speakers, TVs and Android phones.
In many ways, CosmOS hints at what Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple's Siri could look like when combined with capabilities like an AI agent. It's a voice assistant that can understand complex queries and interact with other apps and services on your behalf.
According to Humane, CosmOS is based on the operating system that powers the company's Ai Pin. “This intelligent conductor seamlessly coordinates different AI models, datasets, services, and device capabilities to deliver a fluid and intuitive experience,” the company said in the video.
In the first example, the person in the video talks to CosmOS in his car and asks the assistant to turn up the heat in his house. In the same query, we also want to know when people are coming tonight.
It's also a quick reminder that Humane once again has a vision that's more than a product. The steering wheel logo is blurred and has a note that says “For illustrative purposes only.” Available car features are not reflected. ”
Other use cases in the video include asking for takeout restaurant recommendations, asking for recipes the user checked out the day before, and asking questions about sports games. The smart speaker used in the video is also blurred.
On TV, Humane is touting a multimodal and multistep use case. For example, you can ask how many goals a soccer player has scored this season. The AI assistant is supposed to understand who you're talking about based on the players on the screen and answer the original question.
When it comes to smartphone integration, this demo is reminiscent of Apple's pitch for a better Siri powered by Apple Intelligence at WWDC earlier this year. With Humane, CosmOS understands what's on your screen and can interact with your calendar in the background.
Humane claims that third-party developers will be able to build integrations between CosmOS and its “agents, data, and services.” In reality, this demo video feels more like a sales pitch to see if any companies are interested in acquiring Humane and reusing Humane's software in their products.