You know that feeling when you plunge yourself into the world of the latest shiny gadget, and thinking that it will be the answer to all your productivity woes?
Yeah, me too.
If you have been keeping up with my tech escapades, you will remember I have already tested the RayNeo X2 AR glasses, which were essentially like having a dystopian sci-fi movie play on your face all day. Then there was the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which I lovingly dubbed “cool and useful, but not quite AR”. And let’s not forget the MetaQuest 3 with Immersed, where I had the pleasure of feeling like a slightly more productive couch potato.
So, naturally, when I got my hands on the Compass AI Necklace, I thought, “Great, another piece of tech I’ll wear, forget to charge, and inevitably leave in a drawer”.
I wasn’t entirely wrong.
Before we start!
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The first date
Putting on the Compass AI Necklace
Let me start with a little personal anecdote.
It is a Monday morning, and I am fumbling around my desk, searching for my phone as usual, which, of course, is buried under a sea of notebooks and tech gadgets (sic!) that were supposed to make me more organized.
Now enter… the Compass AI Necklace. That is a wearable AI that has the ultimate promise to remember everything for me, transcribe all of my conversations, organize my life, and basically be the digital assistant I have always needed to keep things organized.
I put it on, feeling a bit like I’m wearing a high-tech dog tag.
It is sleek, reasonably fashionable (for people who enjoy wearing tech around their neck), and ready to listen to every word I say (like what Facebook does on your phone, which no one seems to know about).
It even gives me a subtle sense of superiority, like I’m starring in my own private episode of Black Mirror*. You know, the one where technology quietly records your every move, waiting for the moment it can ruin your life.
Fun times!
[*It’s from the series Black Mirror: “The Entire History of You” (Season 1, Episode 3). People use a “Grain” to record everything they see and hear, which replays their memories at will. Naturally, it leads to ruined relationships and life chaos. A perfect dystopian match for AI Compass!]
What is the Compass AI Necklace?
Before I get into the rollercoaster of my month-long relationship with this device, let’s get one thing straight: the Compass AI Necklace is designed to be your intelligent memory companion.
It’s a little dangling microphone that hangs around your neck and records every conversation, huff, puff, and fart, and transcribes it, stores it for you to look back on later. So if you are someone who regularly forgets your friend’s Netflix recommendations or the crucial action items from a meeting, this is supposed to be the solution to all your problems.
Think of it as a wearable version of a deaf Siri, but less sassy and more likely to be lost in your laundry pile. For $99, you get the necklace and 10 hours of free transcriptions each month.
Yeah, bummer… subscription based nonsense.. the subscription bills keeps stacking up.
But, for those of us who enjoy going overboard with tech, there’s always Compass X: the premium membership for $19/month that lets you record and transcribe your entire existence.
Because why stop at 10 hours when you can relive every awkward conversation you’ve ever had?
So I went for Compass X.
The Good: Does it actually work?
To be fair, there are things the Compass AI does well.
Let’s start with the transcription.
It is surprisingly accurate. Sometimes even eerily so.
I wore it during a few meetings, and instead of frantically scribbling down notes like some under-caffeinated vegan, I let the necklace do the work. Later, I could go back to the Compass app and not only see full transcriptions but also summaries.
Yes, summaries!
No more having to re-read every rambling thought in a conversation (you know, the ones where everyone goes off-topic discussing weekend plans instead of project deadlines).
For professional use, this thing has potential, peoples!
Meetings, conferences, networking events, it is all captured and can be stored for eternity, or at least until you hit the end of your free transcription limit.
The smart reminders were also handy, popping up with things like “don’t forget to email Jeff” or “follow up on that weird conversation about blockchain at the coffee shop”. Honestly, if you’re the kind of person who juggles a lot of conversations, Compass does help you feel on top of things… at least, when you remember to put it on.
The Not-So-Good: Remembering to charge it
Ah, the downfall of all great tech: charging.
I don’t know about you, but my brain can only handle remembering to charge so many devices at a time. Between my phone, my laptop, and all the other geek stuff, and now the Compass AI Necklace, it’s like I’m running a tech charging station.
And, of course, just when I actually needed the necklace (i.e., during an important meeting), it had conveniently died.
Classic.
And speaking of charging, the necklace could definitely benefit from wireless charging.
Who has time to fumble with cords?
It would be way more convenient if it came with an elastic necklace, just something you could stretch and throw on without any clasps or fuss. If you want me to wear this thing daily, make it as low-maintenance as possible, please.
The battery life-time is horrible by the way. One day and it’s dead. You have to re-charge it during the night. That is, if you don’t forget to do that, or you do not have any USB ports available in your immense USB Hub.
Competitors
Is the Rewind Pendant any better?
Let’s talk about competitors for a second.
Remember the Rewind Pendant? I wrote about it (and some of the other stuff that I now have to carry on me), in August.
The Rewind Pendant.
The Rewind Pendant is like if Black Mirror had a baby with a surveillance camera and decided to call it “Productivity“. There’s no denying that wearable AI recorders like this have a common goal: to capture our every waking moment.
But let’s be honest, wearing the Rewind Pendant feels like you are voluntarily auditioning for the most depressing episode of Black Mirror. You know, the one where your life implodes because everything you said is meticulously recorded, transcribed, and waiting to backfire.
Yeah, that one.
At least the Compass AI Necklace tries to be a little more functional.
Here are some reviews of the competition (don’t worry, the Compass will follow soon enough):
- Convenient but privacy-eyebrow lifting: The Rewind Pendant offers real-time transcription and local data storage, making it a handy tool for recalling conversations. However, major concerns revolve around the potential for misuse and privacy violations (TheFuturePart | Prompts Daily)
- Dystopian comparisons: Critics have raised alarms about the risk of recording conversations without consent and the impact on personal privacy. (TheFutureParty)(WinBuzzer).
- Affordable yet problematic: It’s an affordable AI gadget, at 59 USD, but many feel its functionality doesn’t outweigh the ethical and privacy concerns (WinBuzzer)(Science4Data).
- Compass AI comparison: Both the Rewind Pendant and Compass AI serve similar functions. But the Compass AI Necklace offers a more polished design and tries harder to balance functionality with privacy (Kill the DJ )( Prompts Daily ).
To be totally frank.
Privacy Schmivacy.
How many people know that nearly every app on your phone, if not dealt with properly (including the biggest culprit of the all: Facebook), are listening in on your every conversation?
So, one little extra bug on the wall doesn’t hurt me much.
But let’s do a step back and looking at it from a 50.000 foot overview: does it actually do anything revolutionary? Sure, it transcribes conversations and sends reminders, but I can’t help but think it’s just another gadget looking for a problem to solve.
After all, do I really need to record and transcribe every conversation? Can’t I just jot down a few notes like a normal human being?
Ok, ok, let’s talk about the privacy concerns, you whiner
Bad vibes, anyone?
Of course, there is the inevitable privacy thing that comes with wearing something that records everything.
Ok, the Compass promises that everything is 100% private and encrypted, but it is hard not to feel a little paranoid when you are essentially wearing a wire-tap.
The idea of attending a business meeting and having everything recorded without others knowing feels a bit too much like being the office snitch.
I felt compelled to let everybody know I was wearing one before I went into meetings. And to my astonishment, most of the people I worked with agreed, and wanted to see the results. And wanted to delete it right after, as well
And what about hacking or subpoenas.
Ohhhh, now we are talking.
Subpoenas.
When pagers can explode, do you think puny little AI compass necklaces can’t be hacked to bring you and your revolutionary ideas to justice?
“Compass says they comply with legal requests”.
Here you have it, folks.
Imagine the chaos if someone got their hands on your transcriptions.
The world of gossip would be over, and no one would trust anyone ever again. As Jay Stanley from the American Civil Liberties Union wisely put it, “It could actually be disempowering and turn against you”.
So, you know, no pressure.
A cool gadget or just another thing to forget to charge?
So, after a month of wearing (and occasionally forgetting to wear, or wearing it drained) the Compass AI Necklace, what’s the final verdict?
Well,….
It is undeniably cool, when it works.
The transcriptions are accurate, the summaries are helpful, and the reminders are a nice touch.
If you’re someone who needs a digital assistant constantly hanging around your neck, this might just be the gadget for you.
But for me?
After a whole month, it felt more like a novelty than a necessity.
I found myself forgetting to wear it, forgetting to charge it, and ultimately forgetting why I even needed it in the first place.
Much like the RayNeo X2 which lies dormant somewhere.
It’s fun to play with, but not essential to my daily routine. And let’s be honest, the MetaQuest 3 with Immersed still has a special place in my heart for letting me be productive from the comfort of my couch.
In the end, the Compass AI Necklace is just another step in the world of wearable AI, but it is not a leap toward a more productive future. It is just another gadget trying to squeeze a subscription fee out of my pocket, which will ultimately end up collecting dust in my drawer.
Signing-off Marco
Well, that’s a wrap for today. Tomorrow, I’ll have a fresh episode of TechTonic Shifts for you. If you enjoy my writing and want to support my work, feel free to buy me a coffee ♨️
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