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  • 2016-07-22 (xsd:date)
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  • Waverly Labs' 'Pilot' Earpiece Translates Spoken Language (en)
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  • In May 2016 (and again in July 2016) blogs were abuzz with news about Waverly Labs' Pilot earpiece, which purportedly enables users separated by a language barrier to converse using the device and a smartphone: Many articles described Waverly Labs' Pilot as if it was already in existence, extolling its functions and often suggesting a September 2016 ship date: We looked through Waverly Labs' web site to see if any of the most basic questions were answered about the Pilot device: whether it existed in prototype form, for instance. As of 22 July 2016, the latest update to the company's blog was dated 16 May 2016 and promised more details would be provided soon: On 17 May 2016, a Forbes contributor published a piece skeptical about the project and its promises. The author described an initial media frenzy and subsequent unexpected phone call with one of the device's creators: The author appeared more skeptical (rather than less) after speaking with CEO Andrew Ochoa (misspelled as Ochea throughout) and concluded: No videos emerged after the Forbes piece as promised, and the last video upload by Ochoa was on 10 May 2016. The device was over 3,000 percent funded on Indiegogo at more than 2.6 million dollars as of 25 June 2016, but it remains unclear whether an actual working prototype of a Pilot actually exists. (Design prototypes were mentioned on the company's timeline.) Waverly Labs' Pilot wasn't the first device of questionable authenticity to create a viral stir, only to vanish. A much-ballyhooed Cicret smartphone companion garnered an avalanche of attention, but showed no proof of a working prototype. And in the realm of software, a controversial Peeple app took over social media in the summer of 2015 but failed to materialize. (en)
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