Are Hearables needed to fully realize Wearables and Nearables? Alex Washburn/Wired
I, like many, was absolutely blown away when I saw the movie Her by Spike Jonze. My head felt like an idea generator being overloaded with predictions and plans for new start-ups. With a paper and pen in hand to make notes I pushed myself to watch the film twice. Now, I have not come up with the idea that will change the world just yet, but the film definitely changed my view on how I feel the world will look in the not too distant future.
A couple of months later, I am currently in the branding process of a few startup projects. I feel more equipped to form an idea that could change and impact the wearable tech world and the effect it will have in everybody’s life. I am trying hard to be ahead of the latest news and technologies coming out and ensuring I also know about the tech that have not arrived yet.
Reading reports from many influential people like Nick Hunn, I am more and more convinced that “hearable” technology is a force to be reckoned with. There is one type of technology that just keeps exciting me, and it is the idea of having all kinds of automated conveniences in my ear like an on board Artificial-Inteligence device with direct report of my physiological condition and on top of that my own personal assistant like Samantha (The soothing voice of Joachim Phoenix’s OS voiced by Scarlett Johansson) giving me the information I need and being as intuitive as possible while giving me advice. Which leaves me wondering, is that where it will stop?
Futurologists are in agreement over the fact that soon billions of devices will be connected to the cloud. Another technology, that I think has a sexy new name is Nearables, also known as The Internet of Things, or worse, “The Internet of Everything,” is ready to take off. I think it is only logical to conclude that all these devices will be connected to the same hearable device, which will be able to act on commands and teach itself to be the best in fulfilling our needs.
I have been looking at Viv Labs, the makers of Siri, which was bought by Steve Jobs when he was in control of Apple. They are currently on the DL about their project Viv, which is an intuitive artificial PA intelligence, that probably is the closest thing to the OS from Her. The founders of Viv Labs, Adam Cheyer, Dag Kittlaus, and Chris Brigham have mentioned a little about what their new Siri was going to be able to do, calling it, “the global brain” and “the future of intelligent agents and a multibillion-dollar industry”.
Kittlaus stated that: “Siri is chapter one of a much longer, bigger story. Intelligence becomes a utility (a way of saying he wants the AI to be omnipresent). Boy, wouldn’t it be nice if you could talk to everything, and it knew you, and it knew everything about you, and it could do everything for you? Let me just cut through all the usual founder BS, what we are really after is ubiquity. We want this to be everywhere, and we are going to consider all paths along those lines.
Although up until now it looks like Viv is more likely going to be like a service-based product that can be licensed instead of being purchased once. It will make sense if it ends up as a hearable device, but that could be my wishful thinking. That being said, it doesn’t take anything away from the idea of a hearable device controlling everything that it is connected too.
Are Hearables needed to fully realize Wearables and Nearables?
Mano ten Napel is the founder of the wearable startup Novealthy.
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