Omi: AI Companion Wearable That Reads Your Mind

Nik Shevchenko’s Omi: A Brain-Computer Interface for the Masses

The Future of AI Assistants

Nik Shevchenko closes his eyes and starts to focus intently. He’s spent the last half hour or so telling me about his new product, an $89 wearable called Omi that can listen to, summarize, and get information out of your conversations. Now he wants to show me the future.

A Peek into the Future

Shevchenko’s eyes are closed, and he’s focusing all his attention on the round white puck stuck to his left temple with medical tape. "Hey, what do you think about The Verge, like as a news media website?" he asks, to no one in particular. Then he waits. Fifteen or so seconds later, a notification pops up on his phone, with some AI-generated information about how reputable and terrific a news source The Verge is. Shevchenko is thrilled, and maybe a little relieved. The device read his brain waves to understand he was talking to it, and not to me, and answered his question without any prompting or switching.

The Current State of Omi

For now, the Omi’s actual purpose is much simpler: it’s an always-listening device (the battery apparently lasts three days on a charge) that you wear on a lanyard around your neck that can help you make sense of your day-to-day life. There’s no wake word, but you can still talk to it directly because it’s always on. Think of it as 80% companion and 20% Alexa assistant. Omi can summarize a meeting or conversation and give you action items. It can give you information – Shevchenko offhandedly wondered about the price of Bitcoin during our conversation and got a notification from the Omi companion app a few seconds later with the answer.

The Vision of the Future

Shevchenko wants to build a device that understands when you’re talking to it and when you’re not. And then eventually understands and saves your thoughts, which he both waves off as total science fiction and says will probably be possible in two years. Whenever it happens, he thinks it might change the way you use your AI devices.

The Challenges Ahead

The Omi’s tech is actually pretty simple – it’s mostly just a microphone. The AI is the trick. Most people won’t use Omi this way, though. The product will ship widely in the second quarter of this year, but Shevchenko says the 5,000 people with an early version of the device are using it to help remember things, look up information, and perform other tasks common to AI assistants.

Conclusion

Nik Shevchenko’s Omi is an innovative wearable device that can listen, summarize, and provide information from conversations. While it’s still in its early stages, the potential for Omi to change the way we interact with AI devices is significant. With its always-listening feature and ability to understand brain waves, Omi has the potential to revolutionize the way we use AI.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does Omi work?
A: Omi uses a combination of brain-computer interface technology and machine learning algorithms to understand and respond to user input.

Q: What is Omi’s current purpose?
A: Omi is an always-listening device that can help users make sense of their day-to-day life, including summarizing meetings and conversations, providing information, and more.

Q: What is the future of Omi?
A: Shevchenko’s vision for Omi is to build a device that understands when you’re talking to it and when you’re not, and eventually understands and saves your thoughts. He believes this could change the way we use AI devices.

Q: Is Omi available to the public?
A: Omi is expected to ship widely in the second quarter of this year, but 5,000 people with an early version of the device are already using it.