Add some smarts to any old pair of glasses with Kai, now on Kickstarter

By Lulu Chang February 3, 2017

Introducing Kai

Thanks to Kai, you can turn any old pair of glasses into smart spectacles, because even if you’re not a fan of Google Glass or Snap’s Spectacles, you should still be able to get your connected-gadget fix.

Kai itself isn’t a pair of smart glasses. Instead, it’s a clip-on accessory that lets you transform your facial wear into a tech wearable. Complete with a microphone and a whole host of features, you can use your voice to tell your glasses to call or text a friend, find your way to the nearest bar, or order a Lyft back home.

The technology behind Kai comes from Houndify, the company that promises to help you “add a voice-enabled AI to anything.” Its ever-learning independent platform appears to be doing the trick for Kai, which has leveraged the software to help wearers stay abreast of the news and weather, their notifications, and notes and reminders.

“Kai is like a personal assistant sitting behind your ear 24/7,” the team notes in its Kickstarter campaign, “You simply ask Kai to do something for you with the ‘OK Hound’ wake word, and it listens.”

The real differentiating factor for Kai, however, is its design. Because the little device is little more than an addition to your existing pair of glasses, wearers are able to customize their hardware to their liking, and as often as they want. Kai, after all, doesn’t care what it’s clipped onto, so you can stay tech savvy even as trends change. Designed to be discreet and unobtrusive, Kai is always there, but you might forget about it.

With 38 days left to go in its Kickstarter campaign, Kai still has quite a ways to go before it hits its funding goal. But if you’re looking to help make a dent, you can grab one of these devices for yourself for the Super Early Bird price of $130.

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