AI Wristband Aims To Deliver Screenless Assistant
The wristband is available for pre‑order at $179, with shipments targeted for December 2026.
Hyderabad:Can an AI assistant understand you well enough to be useful without a screen, even when people around you are talking or you switch between languages mid‑sentence? That is one of the challenges facing Aarav Garg, a 20‑year‑old Hyderabadi and founding team member of Persona, a startup developing a screenless AI wristband.
As chief hardware officer, Garg oversees hardware engineering, product development and manufacturing, including work with partners in China. The challenge is not simply fitting technology into a small device, but making voice‑based AI reliable within the limits of a wearable, from battery capacity to connectivity.
“When a user speaks to the wristband, the audio is transmitted through their smartphone to our servers, where advanced AI models interpret the request, process it through our intelligence layer, and generate an appropriate response,” Garg explained.
The wristband delivers responses through its built‑in speaker, smartphone notifications or connected audio devices such as AirPods. It is designed to handle tasks including note‑taking, drafting emails and managing appointments, capabilities already available through Persona’s iMessage‑based agent.
“The wristband handles lightweight processing, including basic audio filtering, while the majority of AI processing takes place on the connected smartphone or our cloud infrastructure,” Garg said, adding that the architecture allows sophisticated AI capabilities without power‑intensive hardware on the wrist.
Speech recognition is another challenge, particularly in noisy environments or conversations involving multiple people. Persona uses two microphones and models designed to filter noise, identify speakers and process different languages. “Our AI models incorporate sophisticated noise filtering, speaker identification, and multilingual speech recognition capabilities,” Garg said, noting that the dual‑microphone setup isolates the user’s voice.
The company says its technology supports more than 120 languages. Garg said it had tested the system with Hindi and Telugu, including code‑switching. “This is particularly important in India, where switching between English and regional languages is a common part of everyday communication,” he said.
The screenless design raises a practical question: how can users check whether the AI has captured a note or drafted a message correctly? Persona’s companion smartphone app allows review and correction of AI‑generated content. Garg acknowledged that “AI can occasionally make mistakes,” making the review process important despite advanced models.
The wristband is available for pre‑order at $179, with shipments targeted for December 2026. Persona has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Vine Ventures at a reported valuation of $100 million.