New 'Friend' Necklace Offers AI Companionship
AI wearables like the Rabbit R1 and the AI Pin have attempted to capitalize on the popularity of artificial intelligence and have largely flopped, but that isn't stopping the creator of a new wearable device called Friend.
Friend is an AI necklace that is meant to serve as a personal companion, and in a video that could be the start to an episode of Black Mirror, it's shown providing support, encouragement, and companionship to the wearer.
The hardware component of Friend connects to an iPhone via Bluetooth, continually listening to all interactions around the wearer. Pressing a button on the necklace allows the user to speak to Friend, with a message sent to the iPhone in response. Friend is also able to send messages without a conversational prompt, responding to what the wearer is doing.
The Friend and its "memories" are stored on the necklace, with nothing uploaded to cloud servers. Friend creator Avi Schiffmann said in a blog post that the device is an "expression of how lonely" he's felt. In an interview with The Verge, Schiffmann said that Friend is designed to be supportive, validating, and able to encourage ideas. "It's a great brainstorming buddy," he said. "You can talk to it about relationships, things like that."
Friend is available for pre-order for $99, and it is set to launch in January 2025.
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