'Omi' Wants To Boost Your Productivity Using AI and a 'Brain Interface' - Slashdot
Jan 09, 2025 - hardware.slashdot.org
San Francisco startup Based Hardware has launched a new AI wearable device called Omi at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Designed to boost productivity, Omi can be worn as a necklace or attached to the side of the head using medical tape, featuring a "brain interface" to detect when users are speaking to it. The device, which resembles a small, round orb, is intended to complement smartphones by answering questions, summarizing conversations, creating to-do lists, and scheduling meetings. It constantly listens and processes conversations through GPT-4o, offering personalized advice by remembering user context. The consumer version is priced at $89 and will ship in Q2 2025, while a developer version is available now for about $70.
Founder Nik Shevchenko, a Thiel fellow known for eye-catching stunts, emphasizes privacy by building Omi on an open-source platform, allowing users to track data usage or store it locally. This platform also enables developers to create custom applications, with over 250 apps already available in Omi's app store. Despite privacy concerns and skepticism about the "brain interface," Shevchenko aims for Omi to discern user interactions without wake words, positioning it as a productivity-enhancing tool rather than a smartphone replacement or AI companion.
Key takeaways:
San Francisco startup Based Hardware launched an AI wearable called Omi, designed to boost productivity and can be worn as a necklace or attached to the head.
Omi is intended to be a complementary device to smartphones, offering features like answering questions, summarizing conversations, and scheduling meetings.
The device operates on an open source platform, allowing users to control data privacy and developers to create custom applications.
Omi's "brain interface" aims to understand user interaction without wake words, though its effectiveness is still uncertain.
