Prediction: 2026 is the year AI goes physical.
The first and most obvious area is with robots.
Sharpa robot does origami
Companies have been working on this for decades. The problem is controlling for the incredibly fine motions involved in mimicking human hand movements.
Similar to how 2025 was a breakthrough year for AI, however, developments toward the tail end of last year make us believe 2026 will be the year of the robot.
But that's not what today's issue is about.
Because in addition to terminators, we also think 2026 will be the year we finally get a glimpse of what a legitimate AI device could look like.
No, we don't mean the Rabbit r1.
Which was first unveiled during the January 2024 CES, but would go on to become a flop amongst consumers.
Nor do we mean the Humane AI pin, which was arguably an even bigger flop than the Rabbit.
Humane AI pin
No, in 2026, we expect to see the first inklings of whatever device will eventually replace the smartphone.
Starting with Razer's 'Project Ava.'
Announced at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, Project Ava is a holographic AI gaming companion designed to sit on your desk.
Do we think Project Ava is the future of AI devices? No.
What they got right, however, is the use of holographs.
The Razer
Here's why this is critical for an AI device to succeed.
Smartphones are the second most adopted technology in the world, second only to the Internet itself (73% vs 70% per ChatGPT).
The amount of adoption required to supplant them is a herculean task. Not impossible, but doing so would require the device to solve the problems inherent to using smartphones.
Specifically:
Battery life
Having to remove your phone from your pocket/purse (and then put it back) hundreds of times per day
Having to crane your neck and hold up your arm to support your phone at the appropriate distance from your face
Having to swipe across the screen to access apps one by one dozens/hundreds of times per day
While we've grown accustomed to tolerating these inconveniences, they're problems nonetheless.
More importantly, they're problems that can be solved.
Project Ava by Razer
The thing is, nobody wants to carry around yet another device. Which is people's #1 complaint anytime the idea of an AI "disc" gets floated around.
Which is why holographs are so important.
For a device to legitimately replace our phones, we need some kind of visual display.
It doesn't have to be a flat glass panel. But interacting purely via voice is a dead end.
People aren't going to give up on looking at pictures, reading articles, watching videos, etc.
Second, the device must be something we can control with our voices.
Voice control is the only way we can escape the tediousness of having to swipe across glass to access and interact with apps.
Third, ideally, the device would be wearable, allowing us to escape the pocket/purse dilemma.
Which is where Project Ava falls short.
It's got the holograph. And it's voice-powered.
But it's not portable.
To achieve this trifecta, our futuristic AI device would most likely need to be a watch or a pair of glasses.
Something that solves the issue of having to crane our neck and use our arms, while at the same time allowing voice command AND projecting a visual display.
Developing such a technology is no easy feat.
As Silicon Valley investors know: Hardware is an extremely tough business.
From January 7th, 2026
Just ask Apple, which - despite being the king of hardware - announced it has slashed the marketing budget for its $3,500 Vision Pro goggles by 95%.
Why?
Because they were a total flop with consumers.
But just because something is Level 1000 difficulty doesn't mean these companies aren't trying.
Rokid glasses, designed to compete with Meta's RayBan AI glasses.
While information surrounding it is scarce, an AI YouTube channel I trust says OpenAI is working on a physical device called "Gumdrop."
Whether that's true or not remains to be seen.
What we do know is this: Nobody wants to carry around yet another device in addition to their smartphone.
Which means, any device these companies launch has to either:
Remain stationary (e.g., in our car, desk, bedroom, etc.)
Be something we already use (glasses, watch, etc.)
Or fully replace our smartphones (extremely difficult, but represents a multi-trillion dollar opportunity on par with inventing the iPhone)
Both the Humane pin and the Rabbit r1 failed the above criteria.
Humane pin visual interface
With that said, it's guaranteed every company working on a physical AI device has studied - and learned from - its competitors' recent failures.
And because of that, I believe 2026 will be the year we finally get a glimpse of whatever technology will eventually replace our phones.
As always, it's an exciting time to be alive!
*No, this email was not sponsored by Razer. As usual, I just share cool things I find that I think our readers will get value out of!
Catch you next time,
AI Society Team
