There have been quite a few AI gadgets released into the world at this point, and lots of them are fairly similar. You’ve got AI pins like the kind popularized and eventually made notorious by Humane; you’ve got pendants that hang around your neck like the kind made equally infamous by companies like Friend; you’ve got whatever the Rabbit R1 is.
This week, at Microsoft’s annual Build developer conference, we got something new, something groundbreaking, something… badge-y. In fact, what we got is an AI gadget that’s also a badge. I’ll wait for your vision to come back into focus—it’s a lot to take in. If you sense a bit of sarcasm, it’s because AI gadgets have given me plenty of reason to approach new ideas with eyes firmly rolled, and Microsoft’s offering (concept or not) feels like more fuel for that skeptical fire. First, let’s recap: Microsoft’s badge concept is exactly what it sounds like. A badge-like piece of hardware you wear around your neck. It’s not just any badge, though; it’s got tech crammed in it. It’s got a touchscreen, fingerprint reader, Wi-Fi and 5G connectivity, a microphone for voice commands, and my personal favorite, a side-facing camera. To demonstrate this last bit, Microsoft technical fellow Steven Bathiche pointed the badge at the Build crowd and said, “Copilot, find some good shots from this, clean them up, and then send them to me for me and my team to review.” Cool? He didn’t show the Build audience what the result looked like, which is telling. How well did Copilot clean up the images?
