Meet Friend, Open Source AI Wearable Recording Device Powered by XIAO nRF52840 Sense

As the proverb goes “A friend in need is a friend indeed”, have you ever dreamed about a tech gadget that can be around you to help capture the conversations that you want to (let say a meeting or a chat)? Meet Friend, the world’s #1 open-source AI wearable for effortless conversation capture, which is currently available at a Kickstarter Campaign. Designed by Nik Shevchenko and the team at Based Hardware, it is an open-source AI wearable based on XIAO nRF52840 Sense with the goal  to make conversation recording a breeze.. You simply pair it with your smartphone and effortlessly save transcriptions of meetings, casual chats, and voice memos on the go.

You can experience the convenience of instant summaries, key points, mind maps, task lists, and more – say goodbye to the hassle of manual note-taking. With “Friend”, you’re free to fully immerse yourself in your conversations, thanks to this ultimate hands-free solution.

It is powered by OpenAI Whisper and Deepgram, “Friend” transcribes your recordings with an accuracy that rivals human transcription, converting them into time-stamped texts. No more worries about mistakes or missed details – just dependable records of your conversations.

Hardware

• Board: Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 Sense
• Rechargeable Battery
• Slider Switch
• Wires

How it works?

The Friend device, where the XIAO nRF52840 Sense is housed, captures audio continuously, leveraging its Real-Time AI Audio On-Board Processing capability to analyze the sound in real-time (tinyML). The audio data is then transmitted to the associated phone app using Low-powered Bluetooth technology, ensuring efficient energy use and long battery life. The transmitted audio is processed by Deepgram, an advanced speech recognition service, within the phone app. Deepgram returns a transcript of the audio, converting spoken words into written text. Finally, the transcript is saved in the phone’s storage for later review and use.

“XIAO nRF52840 Sense can be purchased right now, which is essential for a fast and responsive developing process. It includes all the necessary parts to create an AI assistant. In addition, its thumb-size is smaller than many other boards, which is super important when we are talking about wearable devices.” comments by Nik Shevchenko, team lead at Based Hardware when mentioning the reasons why they selected XIAO nRF52840 Sense for building the Friend Device.

How to contribute?

Interested in the “Friend” project? Want to create your own version of this AI wearable device? Check out their step-by-step tutorial to learn how to build your own “Friend” here or contribute to their GitHub project.

You can also buy a fully assembled Friend here at $58 or you can get back their project on Kickstarter and get your Friend device for just $39. The Kickstarter campaign ends in 11 more days, seize your last chances to dive into the world of AI wearables and start creating today!