Apple’s AirPods with cameras for AI are apparently close to production

https://www.theverge.com/tech/926376/apple-airpods-cameras-ai-production

286 points · 103 comments · view on lemmy.world

103 Comments

FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 161 pts · 87d (4 replies)

Yeah, because I really want my fucking headphones recording video.

General_Effort@lemmy.world · 71 pts · 87d (1 reply)

I think most people won't be worrying about their own headphones.

FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 12 pts · 87d

Very true.

CosmoNova@lemmy.world · 46 pts · 87d

Or people walking around me with their camera headphones pointed at me even when they don‘t realize it. Fucking love this big brother economy.

prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 17 pts · 87d

It's Apple. People will buy them no matter what

bonenode@piefed.social · 122 pts · 87d (6 replies)
[ removed ]
Fredselfish@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 87d (3 replies)

That shit illegal in states that have recording laws. Someone needs to sue.

KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 86d (1 reply)

States as in US? Because if that’s the case, this won’t be illegal in any way shape or form.

I don’t understand why people think there is some law out there that supersedes the first amendment which unambiguously protects video recording in anything other than a bathroom, changing room, or the like.

Even in private property doesn’t have a law stating you can’t record, it’s just that you are likely to be trespassed if you break a private establishments no recording policy.

brbposting@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 86d

And the footage itself doesn’t even become illegal even when the trespass was in fact illegal, I heard - can’t require deletion I think? (Of course the property owner or their associates might be bigger than you!)

mokey@therock.fraggle-rock.org · 2 pts · 86d

Didn't they make state regulation of AI illegal? If so they'll just say "you can't touch my AI begone" and begone they shall be.

404found@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 87d

They probably are designed for low resolution because Apple couldn't mass produce better cameras affordably. Plus there is other hardware they don't have space for.

This will most likely follow the iPhone camera business model where new model AirPods will keep getting upgraded cameras.

brbposting@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 86d

that is going to be outside anyones control.

Apple could theoretically lock it down [for a period of time] but darn—you made me realize the clones will have real cameras and look 1:1 before long

…lol “Siri, verify nearby AirPods” (…then the bad guy keeps a real pair activated nearby? and it’s back to creepy)

-

This may be a first of its kind hardware issue for Apple, unless I’m forgetting something

Substance_P@lemmy.world · 101 pts · 87d (2 replies)

Apple is also developing smart glasses and an AI pendant that could launch as soon as early 2027, according to Gurman.

Nobody asked for this. This AI push is stagnating innovation.

Also, link is paywalled. https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.theverge.com/tech/926376/apple-airpods-cameras-ai-production

RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 87d (1 reply)

This AI push is stagnating innovation.

I think it's the other way around, corporate consolidation (including capturing our governments and getting all research funding) killed innovation a while ago and now AI is just the latest non-idea that is being used to cover up that none of the corporations have any new ideas. Even Apple's latest good idea, ARM laptops, was basically done by cheap Linux nettops a decade ago.

atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 87d

Also, ARM laptops were Steve Jobs’ last big idea. He put in place Apple’s last 10 year plan before he died. The first M series laptop came out nine years after his death.

The reason being that Apple is actually considered to be one of the founding members of ARM so they have unique access to the core. Moving to ARM was always the plan after moving to Intel. Apple was the first company to produce a portable ARM device, the Newton back in the early 90s before Jobs’ return.

So even that innovation isn’t exactly new.

warm@kbin.earth · 47 pts · 87d

Why is this shit legal...

Grass@sh.itjust.works · 33 pts · 87d

they saw the outrage at meta glasses and decided "I need this"

Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 33 pts · 87d

Finally, someone solved the age old problem of ears not seeing well enough

Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip · 32 pts · 87d (2 replies)

Fuck right off, dipshits.

What really sucks about this is that there's a version of us in the infinite multiverses where these companies and politicians develop and maintain trust so that we can actually benefit from some of these innovations without just feeling paranoid and taken advantage of, but instead, in their hubris, they make us hate them and their tech.

blargh513@sh.itjust.works · 18 pts · 87d (1 reply)

This is the truth. I got a free Oura ring and I would love to try it, but they're in bed with palantir. Fuck that.

So many interesting developments, but I'm unwilling to sell my soul to the devil to try them. What a dream it would be to use them without worrying that they're going to sell every possible bit of data about me to the lowest bidder.

badgermurphy@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 86d
[ removed ]
WesternInfidels@feddit.online · 32 pts · 87d (7 replies)

...users can query Siri about, like asking the AI assistant what they should cook with the ingredients they have in front of them ... may also use the cameras to help with things like turn-by-turn directions.

Those are some pretty underwhelming use-cases. I can't see the world beating a path to anyone's door for that. Even if you were so excited about these features that you were willing to overlook the privacy concerns, it seems like the phone you've already got would probably be just fine as a conduit for such services.

Squizzy@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 87d (1 reply)

Take a picture of your fridge with a better angle than your ears have.

Use GPS.

vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 87d

Done. I held up my GPS-enabled smart phone I paid $50 for 10 years ago to my eye line, better yet I was able to get a real-time preview of the angle of the picture to ensure everything's in shot.

Airfried@piefed.social · 7 pts · 87d

And if we're not ignoring the privacy concerns these use cases are definitely not worth putting everyone in front of you under this form of surveillance for a US tech giant and ultimately the US government. The price for society to pay is way too high.

parson0@startrek.website · 7 pts · 87d

Surely it will all run on the phone anyway

RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 87d (1 reply)

If your phone is too much of a pain to get out of your pocket, surely a watch or bracelet is a better form factor for this.

HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 87d

Well yeah but they've already reached saturation with their watches so now they need a new product to sell you

General_Effort@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 87d

Yeah. But mind that the bulk price of mediocre cameras is insignificant next to the sales price of AirPods.

I think the idea is that people can walk around and chat with their AI companion, and it sees what they see. No need for any fussing about with hardware. That's exactly Apple's thing. Effortless technology for people who don't want to deal with the mechanics of technology.

rmuk@feddit.uk · 24 pts · 87d (2 replies)

Oh, brilliant! This is exactly what I wanted and directly solves so many problems and frustrations I have with the status quo! Thank goodness for such innovation! I feel seen!

Edit: oops, that should say "I hope everyone involved in bringing this product to market gets given an STI by a hippopotamus". Silly autocorrect.

Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 87d (1 reply)

"autocorrect" AI

JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 87d

"autocorrect" AI glorified autocorrect…

Wait

nuko147@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 86d (5 replies)

I hope they will be banned in EU.

KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 86d (4 replies)

Wait, isn’t the EU generally chock full of surveillance? Including some member countries going so far as to have facial recognition as a norm?

qevlarr@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 86d

Not really, no.

Cornpop@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 86d (2 replies)

England especially

bridgeburner@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 86d (1 reply)

England isn't part of the EU.

Cornpop@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 86d

lol I forgot about that

U7826391786239@piefed.zip · 24 pts · 87d (7 replies)
[ removed ]
TachyonTele@piefed.social · 5 pts · 87d (6 replies)

Wait until you're an adult. Staying in your room turns into never leave the house

U7826391786239@piefed.zip · 8 pts · 87d (5 replies)
[ removed ]
TachyonTele@piefed.social · -2 pts · 87d (4 replies)

Do you live out of your bedroom at well over 45?

U7826391786239@piefed.zip · 4 pts · 87d (3 replies)
[ removed ]
TachyonTele@piefed.social · -5 pts · 87d (2 replies)

If you're still in your parents house at that age... Good luck

U7826391786239@piefed.zip · 8 pts · 87d (1 reply)
[ removed ]
TachyonTele@piefed.social · -4 pts · 87d

👍

lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 87d

A solution in search of a problem

404found@lemmy.zip · 17 pts · 87d (1 reply)

I can literally throw a rock outside and hit someone in the head wearing some type of headphones. There are tons of options out there.

AirPods aren't impressive and Apple isn't focused on exciting their customers like they were a decade ago. My old Apple Watch died recently and I replaced it with another brand. Be loyal to Apple the same way they are loyal to you.

KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 86d

Note: This is frowned upon.

Bebopalouie@lemmy.ca · 17 pts · 87d

Ewwwww.

kn33@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 87d
vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de · 13 pts · 86d

in-ear cameras. Didn't even have this on my bingo card

kate@lemmy.uhhoh.com · 13 pts · 87d (1 reply)

Does no one at apple have long hair?

HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 87d

Hope not otherwise they will add lidar or some other shit to get though hair collecting even more data

HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 87d

Well atleast I know who to avoid once they are available.

ModernRisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 87d (2 replies)

I like AirPods (Pro) but this is a real no-go (for me). If this really gets pushed and in the stores, will not purchase them.

I wish companies would just get away with AI and unnecessary crap like this.

Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 87d (1 reply)

I LOVE my pros but also for sure would not buy headphones with shitty AI garbage in them. I’ve never enabled Siri on anything and never will

baggachipz@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 86d

I have Pros gen 1 and was thinking of upgrading in the not-too-distant future since the battery life is waning. Those camera ones can fuck right off, but that also means I’ll be able to pick up some gen 3’s in closeout.

kurmudgeon@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 87d (1 reply)

No more using my headphones for masturbation. 😆

MagicShel@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 87d

You'd just be paying it forward. Ten minutes after you watch some girl's roommate jilling off, she's watching you crank your meat handle.

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 86d (25 replies)

Fuck.

Anyone know of any good headphones that have the airpod in-ear shape? (Like these)

7707

Hate the Skullcandy style with the shitty rubber nubs, those hurt my ears. (Like these)

7708

But that's all anyone makes now other than airpods non-pro and cheap shitty airpod knockoffs (but I still want halfway decent headphones.)

No it isn't "just the wrong size" don't bother with that, I just have way too tight ear pussies and I need it to rest outside the hole like the first pic.

Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 86d (1 reply)

I imagine they’ll still sell the non-camera version.

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 86d

In that case I'll be fine, but tbh I'd like better ones anyway were they to exist.

EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 86d

I really like the ear-loop style so that they don't have to be jammed into my ear canal. They (and the accompanying case) are slightly larger, but I find them much more comfortable and no concerns about them falling out even when moving around a lot.

I'm very particular about what goes into my ear as well.

forestbeasts@pawb.social · 2 pts · 86d (1 reply)

If you like wired, they have wired "earpods" with the same shape. Even a 3.5mm version, last we checked.

-- Frost

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 85d

I wish. 3.5mm jacks have been murdered by phone OEMs and I'm actually angry about it, and I'm not into extra wear and tear on my only charge port. They either need to put back the 3.5mm or give me two USB-C ports.

LiveLM@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 86d (9 replies)

I don't know if there's a proper name for it but most companies doing Earbuds also have models without the rubber nubs just like the first picture.

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 86d (8 replies)

If only I could find them lol. I you have any specific brands to look for I desperately need them, afaik bose, sennheiser, grado, beats, those podcast ones, all do the inside the hole thing. Bose has some weird clip ones but I can't justify spending $200 on them to see if they'll work for me when they very well may not.

LiveLM@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 86d (5 replies)

Just the other day me and a friend were talking about this and we found the JBL Tune Flex 2.
Are they good? No clue. But they are the right shape. JBL has some other models too.

qevlarr@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 86d (1 reply)

That wording "$109.95 each" makes it sound like you have to buy left and right separately

LiveLM@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 85d

Ikr? Loool. Defintely could use a tweak

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 86d (2 replies)

Dude I might actually grab a pair of these for my next, thank you so much! JBL is good enough for me, not the best but their speakers run well and sound alright, and that's perfect!

wide_eyed_stupid@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 86d (1 reply)

I just wanted to let you know, I've used the JBL Tune 225TWS for years and they still work. Like you said, definitely not the best, but good enough while I'm on a bus or something.

I even still have my Tune220TWS, which are older, but they also still work. The only reason I stopped using those was because they still use micro-USB and my last cable broke. All I had left were USB-C (due to the EU law that made it universal).

tl;dr: they might not be the best sound quality, but their devices last a long time. I've even dropped mine a few times and they survived it.

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 85d

Thanks for the info, I'll pick these up next time I have to replace the pods I have!

dai@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 86d (1 reply)

Nothing also do some. Nothing Ear (Stick)

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Nothing-Ear-Stick-TWS-headphones-review-Transparent-sound.665463.0.html

However I'm not sure if they are currently being produced, they do some open, over ear buds however; they all have the rubbish pinch gestures vs the old touch from the AirPods 1 / 2.

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 86d

Ooh thank you these could also work!

nevetsg@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 86d

I can't use in ear buds because they get ejected by my ear canal. But I have to wear hats so I can't wear 🎧 style. I got some Shokz bone conduction head phones and they are awesome during daily activities. You can get better sound elsewhere, but hard to beat the convenience.

badgermurphy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 86d
[ removed ]
FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 86d

I wish you the best of like finding them, but I genuinely think you’re on the minority of the market. I upgraded from the first to the second and the original pods physically hurt my ears wedging a bit of hard plastic into soft tissue

qevlarr@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 86d

You're right, I also prefer this shape but couldn't find a good one. I'm using Sony WF-1000XM5 now and am quite happy with them, but it would be better if they made this shape

Ibuthyr@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 85d

AirPods are earbuds, whereas the ones with tips that go into the ear channel are IEMs. The latter are better in every way in my opinion, but that doesn't help if they hurt. I use foam tips, they give the best seal and comfort in my opinion.

What speaks against headphones? Like on-ear or over-ear headphones.

monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 86d (4 replies)

You can probably still find the older airpods.

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 86d (3 replies)

For now.

ouRKaoS@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 86d (2 replies)

Firmware update to only work with iTunes w/ 30 second ads every 2-5 minutes.

badgermurphy@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 86d (1 reply)
[ removed ]
ouRKaoS@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 86d

Oooooh! Half second lag between left & right!

xSikes@feddit.online · 8 pts · 87d

Hard pass and also don’t have $400 for shit that’s not going to hold a battery charge for long.

SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 86d (1 reply)

Endlessly asking AI what to do will cause people to lose the ability to think analytically.

Noodle07@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 86d

That's already the case, time to make it worse

PierceTheBubble@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 87d

A resolution low enough to be able to identify "ingredients they have in front of them". And they're also planning to launch smart glasses (read: spyglasses) and AI pendants (read: consumer bodycams), as to be able to compete with Meta and OpenAI (with regards to harvesting data without consent?) But I guess you first introduce them into one of your most widely-adopted wearable, where the high probability of people being spied on, isn't as obvious compared to relatively uncommon spyglasses or bodycams.

W3dd1e@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 87d

Even if I wanted AI in my AirPods, how is this gonna work for people with long hair? This makes no sense.

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 87d (4 replies)

The AirPods’ cameras “aren’t designed” to snap photos or video but instead can take in “visual information in low resolution” that users can query Siri about, like asking the AI assistant what they should cook with the ingredients they have in front of them, according to Gurman. They may also use the cameras to help with things like turn-by-turn directions.

That doesn't sound "low-resolution" to me. Also, does anyone really trust them not to record the camera feed? It needs to be sent to the cloud for this thing to work, they're going to record it, and nothing is ever deleted.

Just because the user isn't given the images, doesn't mean the video isnt' recorded.

panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 87d (1 reply)

Not necessarily, you could compute embeddings on device, but that requires decent compute.

And embeddings are reversible and don’t preserve privacy. It’s not meaningfully better than video.

parson0@startrek.website · 2 pts · 87d

It's Apple, it will most likely run "on device" - so the iPhone the airpods are connected to in this case

ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip · 3 pts · 87d

"Aren't designed to" is very different from "designed not to".

ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 87d

I already assume that everything that goes into a cloud somewhere WILL be used for other purposes, at the very least as AI training material, and this will be no different. And the plan is for at least some (possibly all?) video to automatically be extracted to some kind of cloud storage, no matter how temporarily. From the article:

The AirPods will have a “small” LED light to indicate when “visual data is being fed into the cloud.”

That's a hell of a non-answer to all the privacy concerns Apple already knows the public has. Since this entire article is itself just a manufacturer-friendly puff piece for pre-release promotion, the only conclusion I can draw is that Apple is willfully holding back the specifics on all of that.

And again with the fucking notification light, like that's the solution to all privacy concerns. On AirPods a light can't possibly be more than a pinhole itself, just because of the size of the device, so that'll be even worse than Meta's joke of a notification light.

paraphrand@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 87d

People would enjoy these features. But they want it to happen without a camera, somehow.

So they are supposedly verboten features. Never to be done.

devolution@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 87d

No.

thisbenzingring@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 87d

who's going to use this when it makes the battery life almost nothing?

my ear buds are good enough but still only last for so long just listening over Bluetooth. two way conversation makes them drain even faster... two way plus video? come on!

Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 87d

I want this in the same way I want a web browser on my toaster. So glad people like me finally getting our way.

IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 87d (1 reply)

Pray for nukes.

JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 87d

"Well, the plague didn't work. I guess I'll try raining hell fire." -- God

vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 87d

So now I have to stab every person wearing airpods if I don't want to be spied on by the Five Eyes intelligence agencies?

Every day I'm thankful US tech is less and less popular outside the west.

goatsarah@thegoatery.dyndns.org · 0 pts · 87d (5 replies)
[ removed ]
General_Effort@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 87d (4 replies)
[ removed ]
Vittelius@feddit.org · 4 pts · 87d (3 replies)

She's posting from Friendica. Ignore the @mention, that's just how that platform works

Hawke@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 87d (1 reply)

Can it not?

Vittelius@feddit.org · 1 pts · 87d

I'm fairly sure it can, but that's default behaviour over there, similar to how Mastodon and X/Twitter work.

General_Effort@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 87d

Thanks.

ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 86d (3 replies)

Everyone’s losing their shit over an additional sensor. Does everyone think their phone is constantly recording video because it has a camera on it, the same with the microphone? Laptops?

Maybe if it was Meta? I don’t think Apple’s business model incentivises personally identifiable spying or keeping any recordings outside of their standard analytics and “improvements” model.

They have been caught being pretty ham fisted with using third parties to process this data (eg. Siri recordings), so I wouldn’t put it past them for any of these anonymised recordings to fall into anyone’s hands really, but that’s why you can now turn them off.

Which I would immediately do. I would never buy these anyway, and it sounds like a terrible idea, but some of this freaking out is giving them way too much credit.

Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 86d

Yes. Maybe not constantly, but without your consent.

If the 3 letter agencies are telling you to cover your webcam and Aliexpress is starting to sell phone and tablet camera cover stickers then I fully believe it's a problem.

Ibuthyr@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 84d (1 reply)

It literally says "cameras for AI". You don't see how that becomes a problem?

ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 84d

I’d say the spectrum goes from local ML, that seems fine, to recordings being made, leaving the device and being potentially seen by other humans (even “anonymised”), that’s much more problematic.