Motorola's R&D department has been an open door. After a potential book-style foldable leaked earlier today (January 5), images of a potential wearable AI device surfaced as well.
Prolific tipster Evan Blass posted a series of images showing a woman wearing a Motorola-branded device that looks very similar to the dumpster fire that was the Humane AI Pin, a discontinued wearable that relied on AI to serve as a mobile assistant of sorts.
From what we can see in Blass' images, Motorola's device appears to have a camera, speaker and microphones. It can also be worn as a pendant or a wearable attached to your clothing.
Blass' initial post didn't have many details as he just wrote "???" in his tweet. However, a previous leak from Blass that revealed the Razr Fold and a variety of upcoming Lenovo devices and projects included a slideshow that mentioned something called "Project Maxwell." Built in partnership with Motorola's 312 Labs, Maxwell is an "AI Perceptive Companion," which the slide lists a proof of concept.
According to that image, the device is an "AI-native" wearable that is context-aware and always available. Using prompts, the device will collect visual, auditory, and oral information to provide you with real-time insights and recommendations.
Despite the images and the slide, it's not clear where Motorola is aiming for with this device. "We can't speak to any plans to produce this concept commercially," the slide says.
Motorola has a partnership with Perplexity AI for its phone lineup, but the slide mentions Lenovo Qira, the company's as yet unannounced AI assistant, which could power a new set of smart glasses.
Another AI wearable failure?
Outside of smart glasses and some rings, AI wearables have been largely dead on arrival, with the Humane AI Pin being the most famous example. Other examples include the Friend pendant, mostly known for billboard backlash in New York.
The desire among companies for an AI wearable device won't go away any time soon. OpenAI is reportedly making its own in partnership with former Apple designer Jony Ive. However, even Sam Altman's company is looking to expand into smart glasses and AI speakers.
Last year, Amazon bought Bee, a company that was making an AI wrist device that transcribes your day.
It's all an attempt to move customers away from smart phones, so the AI device idea won't really go away, but no one has found success yet.
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