I had a vision in peyote ceremony in 2017 of a world where our descendants look one another in the eyes, have healthy posture, and are fully digitally interfaced with real time information of our complex internet of things. Infrastructure such as roads, retail, and health interface with a minimal piece of jewelry and we are fully enabled to quantify and coordinate the financial enablement of our flourishing as a species.
This vision was so clear that I founded a company and began a wearable device design firm to make it real. We drove forward for months on products that we saw as a part of that beautiful future. We named the brand Suyana Technologies. Suyana means hope in Bolivia, and we have hope for a marriage of data and adornment towards the bright future of our infrastructure supporting humanity through beautiful connected jewelry.
Smart fidget rings to monitor dysregulation and triggers, bracelets to augment sound with dancers and DJs collaborating, glasses to replace phone screens and pair with smart watches. The world felt bright and alive. Then the pandemic began and VC funding was challenging to secure, especially for hardware startups. I hired away my team into friends’ companies and set out on my healing journey and detransition from living as a trans-female. The vision of a day without screen was released and I knew with all of my heart that it had touched others simultaneously and one day I would hear of their progress.
Because this vision is not fantasy, this is all possible today. With micro-circuitry component miniaturization, efficient resource usage, temperature and antenna innovations, and multiple convergent trends towards the dematerialization and recombination of our various digital tools; I see right now as a beautiful time to be alive. I know that others are seeing the harms of back-lit screens on children, neurology of addiction during screen usage, and dysregulation and poor posture when working with computers; it is all accumulating and contributing to a more disconnected culture of slouching bodies–while furthering the intellectual connections across cultures. We can do better; we have have fully connected and embodied humans stewarding the planet and culture, eyes connected and hearts open.
Yes, we will preserve and celebrate visual arts, digital creativity, and film; but we will no longer be hijacked by deeply leveraged marketing content to influence our perception of what we need. We can develop even more advanced screens for the occasions when we consume visual media. And for our work in the world, we can remain present and in action. Our devices are tools to support our missions, and these screen free offerings are key to maintaining utility while preserving sovereignty.
And now that Hu.ma.ne is leaving stealth, I can share the whispers I have been following within our innovation incubation communities. The lead engineers behind the iphone and android hardware experiences; the gestures, and the ultimate operating system logic have all joined forces to deliver humanity to the future of that very vision I received in 2017. Today, almost 7 years later, we see the first glimpses of Hu.ma.ne’s AI pin. This is the first of their line of devices that will be the backbone of our future digital participation. There will be competitors and there will be failures. As Qualcom and other component manufactures develop IP to further miniaturize components, will Hu.ma.ne remain the leader or will ground up competitors develop alternatives to better leverage coming innovations? Will user adoption falter due to the deeply entrenched and loyola mobile device user base? Will this be a luxury add-on to already enabled mobile device users?
What would Ivy Ross say from her time developing the Google Smart Glasses and the lessons learned about market timing? Is this the opening in the markets for a new hardware ecosystem to enter the space?
Will Apple, Alphabet, and Samsung develop similar offerings? Will other systems be developed as add-on gadgets to the cell phone rather than standalone offerings?
Will we see a rise in white labelled watches, and eye/ear pieces that accomplish the utility of the Hu.ma.ne pin without the sacrifices?
And more broadly optimistic:
What will happen when hundreds of thousands of new hearts and minds are tethered into the global conversation? What rebundling of skills and education will be necessary to onboard these users? How will we discover new use cases for this class of devices that further the evolution of human consciousness and community?
Do you see this as a wrong turn in our evolution? Is this not aligned with the world you see?
How are we checking ourselves against spiraling into another silo of rapture ideologies and techno-optimism?
How are we tactfully bridging the potential of our tools and the ancient wisdom of our bodies?
I see the enrollment of capital as a key indicator of whether Hu.ma.ne truly does have line of sight on a defensible trend in these markets or whether this is an impact initiative that will demonstrate, test, and prove market dynamics and cultural readiness? I hope they are accurate and privy to information beyond my sight. I hope their certainty is deep and conviction enrolling.
And most importantly, will you purchase a Hu.ma.ne AI pin?
I know I will!
Love and blessings to you each on this 11.11.2023
https://hu.ma.ne/
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