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Wearables are back, thanks in part to the boom in generative artificial intelligence and the super-powered smart assistants that the technology can enable. As tech companies reawaken the urge to sell devices that strap computers to our wrists, fingers, faces, chests and necks — becoming statement-making pieces for the wearer — the budding category of AI wearables carries with it implications for fashion.
The latest entrant is Friend, a just-announced round pendant necklace designed to be an always-listening digital companion, slated to ship to customers in January of next year. It has already generated considerable buzz, in part, because its founder is 21-year-old Harvard dropout Ari Schiffmann (known for creating an award-winning Covid-tracking website). It follows in the footsteps of Humane, a square pin with cameras and sensors that is worn on the lapel. Humane is billed as a “second brain”, and has raised at least $230 million from notable investors including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Microsoft.
This emerging category of pins and pendants equipped with digital assistants and AI personalities come after launches from Meta and Amazon, which have both released new eyewear equipped with their own branded assistants in the past year. Meta’s glasses add a layer of computer vision that can see and interpret the outside world. Rings are also thriving. Health-tracking Oura ring just got an AI assistant called the Oura adviser, and it’s sharing space with competitors that include AI smart ring startup Cudis, which provides blockchain-based rewards on top of its health-tracking capabilities.
These new startups and devices are all angling to be even more omnipresent than smartphones or smart speakers. The pitch is an introduction to what is called ambient computing, in which the computer can digest (and often provide) contextual information about the outside world without requiring the wearer to pull out their phone. (This is similar to spatial computing, which specifically detects objects in a person’s space and often uses augmented or virtual reality.)
They are also pushing the limits of AI squeamishness. Friend, by default, is listening to everything in the world around it through a microphone; its chatbot then sends push notifications to the wearer’s phone, sometimes unprompted. Humane is somewhat akin to always wearing a body camera and microphone. (This is why recent versions of many smart glasses, including Meta’s, have added a flashing light to indicate when they are filming.)
While ambient computing brings a number of potential perks — hands-free capabilities that relieve us from our phones, allowing us to set a timer, change the song or take a pic without getting sucked into Slack or social media — it’s a delicate transition period for AI wearables. If unsavoury devices or uses dominate pop culture buzz, the whole concept risks being dragged down with the ship.
What it means for fashion
Not since the smartwatches boom a decade ago have we seen such enthusiasm for wearable tech. But, what happens when AI devices become fashion statements?
While the functionalities are different, this new class of devices suffer the same conundrum as wearables of the past: the momentum for generative AI has spilled over from Silicon Valley to the mainstream, but the average person is still likely to hesitate before displaying the tech on their bodies — even if it can identify the flowers you’re looking at or offer feedback on your recent conversation.
It’s still early days, but there are signs of fashion’s interest. Coperni’s models, including Naomi Campbell, wore Humane devices on the runway last September (pictured at top). Gucci has collaborated with Oura on a ring (and previously designed a pair of smart glasses with Snap), and Hermès is continuing its 10-year partnership with the Apple Watch.
Fashion brands who dive into these newer experimental devices risk being even more closely associated with not only the device, but with the AI assistants that inhabit it. Many consumers are already often turned off by the vague concept of AI. In February, a collaboration between buzzy New York brand Collina Strada and bag brand Baggu went sideways when it became apparent that Collina Strada had used generative AI in the design process (which is nothing new; designer Hillary Taymour has used AI-generated art in at least her past two shows). And last year, Levi’s got in hot water when they announced that they were expanding e-commerce model representation via AI-generated, fictional models.
There’s also a common assumption that AI “kills creativity” and steals jobs, bringing with it a dystopian future in which thinking is outsourced to sentient computers. Just last week, Google decided to cancel an Olympics-themed ad for its AI chatbot, Gemini (formerly Bard), due to negative reactions.
There are ways to introduce this wearable AI in a more palatable way, and a lot of that rides on aesthetics. Meta turned to EssilorLuxottica, parent company of Ray-Ban, which licenses eyewear for Burberry, Prada and Ralph Lauren, to produce its smart glasses. It started with a classic shape — a familiar silhouette that disguises the completely new computer within. And, aside from the Apple Watch Hermès, with the strap being the primary fashion moment, luxury brands often go to great pains to disguise smartwatches; in December, LVMH’s Tag Heuer unveiled new designs of its smartwatch faces that are explicitly designed to photorealistically replicate the mechanical movements of an analog watch.
A pager-sized box worn on the lapel (Humane), or a round pendant necklace (Friend) have a harder time blending in. No matter how interesting the tech is, it’s a big ask for people to wear something that alters their physical appearance, and not necessarily for the better.
“For AI to be successful in a wearable, it will have to be in either a device that we cannot live without or incorporated into a device that we already use,” says Cathy Hackl, CEO of Spatial Dynamics, a consultancy that advises companies on spatial computing (which includes wearable AI devices) and emerging technologies. “I see an opportunity for fashion to be a part of this conversation in the sense that if you wear one of these devices and it is an ‘it’ device — a device that a lot of people want — you are making a fashion statement.”
Fits and starts
Say tech companies nail the fashion bit — do people really want sentient, always-on wearables?
Early reviews about Humane have been mixed at best. In one review, The Verge editor-at-large David Pierce found it to be an “interesting idea that is so thoroughly unfinished and so totally broken in so many unacceptable ways that I can’t think of anyone to whom I’d recommend [it].” Responses to Friend have also pushed back against a potentially dystopian future, with some commentators calling the concept “creepy” — a step too far even in a world of smart cars, speakers, phones and cameras.
The industry is pushing ahead. Expect more fashion AI wearables tie-ups on the horizon. In a July research note, investment bank TD Cowen wrote that hardware and wearable devices were key examples of AI’s potential impact on retail. “Our sense is that the AI hype cycle is accelerating, not peaking, despite elevated AI stock valuations and record company transcript mentions,” wrote TD Cowen managing director Oliver Chen. “We observed a step-change in tone.”
Because they see and hear more about daily life, and thus can collect all the data that entails, competition is fierce to develop the most ubiquitous AI assistant. Meta’s Ray-Ban offering has recently expanded to include additional colours and designs, and Meta is reportedly considering an investment in EssilorLuxottica SA. In Meta’s April earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he felt that AI would prove to be a successful use-case for smart glasses, and apparently Meta is looking to Supreme to make them appealing for Gen Z.
“Glasses are the ideal device for an AI assistant because you can let them see what you see and hear what you hear, so they have full context on what s going on around you as they help you with whatever you re trying to do,” Zuckerberg said. Last week, he said that the glasses “continue to be a bigger hit sooner than we expected — thanks in part to AI”, and that demand is outpacing the company’s ability to build them.
“Generative AI and AI in general, especially computer vision, is going to have to live in a piece of hardware, and whoever owns that hardware is going to have access to that data,” Spatial Dynamics’s Hackl says. “And that data is incredibly valuable and powerful.”
As the industry grapples with how to implement generative AI, the tech question has morphed from, “What could we do?” into, “What should we do?” Wearable tech should benefit from the same approach: just because you could, doesn’t always mean you should.
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