(Credit: Michael Kan)
LAS VEGAS—Willing to wear a mask to prevent anyone from listening to your AI prompts? Japanese start-up Verne Technologies is developing a noise-cancelling mask to keep your AI voice chats private. The upcoming product is called the Wearphone, and it promises to muffle your voice by 10 to 20 decibels.
While wearing the mask, the Wearphone allows you to interface and speak with various chatbots, making it function like a peripheral for voice input. The product remains under development, but it promises to feature both active noise cancellation and physical soundproofing, according to Verne Technologies’ CEO Daiki Takeuchi, who presented to journalists ahead of CES.
(Credit: Michael Kan)It can also be used for phone calls and virtual meetings, allowing you to speak in a crowded office space or café without exposing your privacy. However, the concept trades privacy for some awkwardness by requiring you to cover your face.
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Still, Verne Technologies is betting that the AI chatbot era will create a need for at least some users to demand extra privacy. The company says the mask itself was built with style and comfort in mind. In addition, the mask separates into individual parts, allowing you to clean the interior through UV exposure.
(Credit: Michael Kan)Verne Technologies was only showing a mock-up of the device at CES Unveiled, the preview for the Las Vegas electronics show, so I couldn’t see the device in action. The exact specs also remain unclear.
Nevertheless, the company says it plans on selling the Wearphone device in June or July and has a waitlist for interested buyers. Verne also plans to offer a $19-per-month subscription add-on that uses AI to enhance the mask's speech recognition capabilities.