Microsoft is testing wearable AI gadgets for office workers

Microsoft is testing wearable AI devices for office workers.

Microsoft is developing new wearable technology using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled devices.

At the company's annual conference for technology developers, Microsoft executive Steven Bathiche showed off two "concepts" the company has developed for hardware products for people who frequently use AI tools at work.

One of them was a small, portable desk-ready cube with a touch and voice recognition screen. The other is a "wearable access badge" that can be worn around the neck or belt loop to provide quick access to AI-based actions, Bathiche said.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said these devices represent a "new form factor" in technology devices.

Microsoft has not said it will bring one of these products to market, but says that testing these devices now will "inform how we can deploy these form factors" in the future.

Hundreds of Microsoft employees currently use this product.

Microsoft has tried to break into wearable devices before.

The company has developed a wearable headset called Hololens, similar to the Meta Quest or Apple's Vision Pro headset.

In a video demonstrating Microsoft's AI-powered access badges and desktop devices, part of what Nadella calls Project Solara, people primarily performing office work were shown tapping the screens of both devices to see what the AI ​​agent was doing and connect. Agents are essentially AI bots that perform tasks more or less autonomously.

These agents are widely used by technical workers, for example, to assist in writing software code.

Microsoft's badges and desktop devices connect to a variety of Microsoft software and PCs, allowing individuals to interact with AI agents outside of their laptop or desktop computer.

Although the access badge is intended to be worn, “it is lightweight and designed for agent interaction on the go,” Bathiche said.

Nadella appeared at one point in the recorded video wearing an access badge on a lanyard around his neck, similar to the way people wear required identification to enter office buildings.

The badge is also equipped with a small camera.

During Bathiche's demonstration, he took a wearable badge, activated it using a fingerprint, then pointed it at the conference audience, telling them to take a photo of the crowd and send it to them for review.

“It was like that,” he said.

The cameras can help agents “better understand their surroundings and take action,” Bathiche said in an online blog post about the device.