It looks like Humane’s upcoming iPhone-killer will be a laser-projection system after all, based on a cryptic teaser video that dropped Friday.
Humane is a San Francisco startup staffed with a glittering roster of ex-Apple talent, many of whom were instrumental in developing the original iPhone.
The company hasn’t yet announced its first product, but patents hint Humane is working on a smart, screenless device that projects information onto the environment around the user.
Humane’s iPhone-killer
Photo: Humane
The video — which can be seen on Humane’s website and has been hyped by the startup for weeks on social media — shows a young woman surrounded by a big crowd of dark figures. People in the crowd are all lost in their smartphones or shrouded by hooded VR devices over their heads.
As Nas’ “Everything” plays, the woman runs away from the crowd into a forest to get a better look at a lunar eclipse. The moon appears to be eclipsed by a rectangular object — possibly an iPhone. As the eclipse clears, the moon’s reflection is projected onto her palm, and she smiles in satisfaction.
Photo: Humane
“If I changed anything, I mean anything, I would change everything,” the song says.
The video strongly resembles Apple’s famous 1984 ad that introduced the Macintosh. In Apple’s ad, an athletic young woman shatters the gray and boring computer world with a colorful sledgehammer representing the Mac.
Likewise, Humane’s device will free us from the current smartphone dystopia, the ad seems to be saying.
After the iPhone: Humane’s projection device
Photo: Humane
According to patents filed by the startup, Humane seems to be developing some kind of AI-powered, laser-projection device that will replace our smartphones.
Equipped with cameras and microphones, the device attaches to the user’s clothes somehow. It is smart enough to know where it is and what’s going on around it. Instead of a screen, it uses voice and lasers to project information onto the environment around the user.
Thermostat controls, for example, might beam onto the user’s hand. Or the device might project instructions for fixing a car directly onto the car’s engine.
It looks very ambitious. “Humane is the next shift between humans and computing,” the company’s website claims.
Founded by Apple talent
The company was founded by Imran Chaudhri and his spouse Bethany Bongiorno, a pair of Apple veterans who both left the company in 2016.
Chaudhri was one of the main inventors of the iPhone. A 20-year veteran of Apple, Chaudhri worked on the Macintosh, iPod, iPad, Apple Watch and iPhone. But he’s best known for inventing the iPhone’s user interface and interactions. He’s named as an inventor on thousands of patents.
Bongiorno was director of software engineering for iOS and macOS projects. She played a leadership role in development of the original iPad prototype, going back as far as 2002.
Their startup has hired 140 employees, including a whopping 60 from Apple. And Humane already attracted millions of dollars in financing from blue-chip VC firms.
Mirroring the video’s lyrics, one of the company’s star hires, Ken Kocienda, who developed the iPhone’s software keyboard and autocorrect, tweeted: “If I could change anything about personal technology, I would change everything. That’s our goal at @Humane.”
The video already attracted some mild criticism online. Harry McCracken, the global technology editor for Fast Company, wondered if it showed massive hubris.
“I’m excited to see what Humane is working on, but a little worried about it telling us that its unannounced product is ‘The best human experience, ever,’ which has a Segway whiff of pointlessly heightened expectations to it,” he wrote.
I’m excited to see what Humane is working on, but a little worried about it telling us that its unannounced product is “The best human experience, ever,” which has a Segway whiff of pointlessly heightened expectations to it. https://t.co/TOqcTfwxj3
— Harry McCracken (@harrymccracken) July 15, 2022
Humane hasn’t said when it’ll reveal the device. The video contained no clues as to when that might be, and there’s no information on the company’s website. Perhaps it’ll be during the next lunar eclipse?
