Last month we published an article regarding a current Indiegogo campaign by Tier3D.
The article was titled “Money Laundering? Magical Phone Promising Everything On Indiegogo” and was removed shortly afterwards due to a number of factual errors made by the editors involved.
We’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to the Indiegogo project owner, Shalender Singh, as well as the rest of the team, including Brian Josephson, Dan Riskin, Srini Srinivasan, and Vishnupriya Singh.
The article was authored by Kristijan Lucic and posed as a skeptical piece. Following which it was heavily edited by Dominik Bosnjak prior to publication. In both the creation and editing of the title and the content, the editors failed to obtain a proper grasp of the facts, as well as the Tier3D phone campaign as a whole. This resulted in a major fail in the editing process and painted an incorrect picture of the project to our readers.
So we would now like to take the opportunity to make that right.
Tier3D Phone
Tier3D is a company led by Shalender Singh with more than 20 years of experience in computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality (AR). Previous to Tier3D, Singh worked as a computer scientist and AI expert at Adobe.
Mr. Singh, along with the rest of the Tier3D team have envisioned a phone that draws on AI to offer a “human-like” level of intelligence.
The device is scheduled to ship with a 3D light field camera (and included sensors) and is designed to capture “high-quality crowdsourcing of data.” This, in the company’s own words will “empower human-like artificial intelligence”.
While that in itself sounds intriguing enough, the real magic is how the phone is designed to predict what you’re about to do and based on that information is able to calculate the likelihood of certain tasks before being prompted.
For example, if the Tier3D phone assumes you want to call someone, it will suggest that action on the display. Similarly, if the device thinks that you want to send an email at a specific time, it will again suggest that as an option.
The same applies to scheduling in general. So again, if you have a meeting planned for tomorrow, and the Tier3D phone is aware a presentation for the meeting is needed, it will act accordingly based on that information.
Although this is an ambitious project, Mr. Singh and the wider team are confident in the project and the first test units of the phone are almost complete. This is not something the team has just started with but is a project that has been in development for some time.
Tier3D provides a wealth of information on the Indiegogo listing, including a video that offers a clear description of what the phone is capable of and what buyers can expect both at the hardware and software levels. Not just for the phone either, but also for a new Tier3D Watch – more on that later.
The brains behind the technology
While data is captured on the Tier3D phone, the crowdsourcing element is where the real power comes from. The team have also utilized auto-scaling so that the AI can dynamically react and process in an optimal way, and regardless of the size or complexity of the data. Based on this processing, the device is able to make its predictions and offer that “human-like intelligence” experience.
A big part of Tier3D’s vision is the MindNet social media platform. This is an online portal that allows Tier3D users and developers to interact with each other, as well as content, apps, and algorithms in general. This is also a portal that’s designed to satisfy different needs, including the option for users and developers to publish content and monetize it.
There’s also a MindStudio application that users can access to take advantage of its advanced search functions. For example, you can instruct the MindStudio application to find all the animals in a video, or just generally extract objects / information from different scenes. MindStudio is designed to give you more control over captured content, and the software is capable of de-identifying sensitive data automatically, in order to protect user privacy.
Meet the Tier3D Watch
In addition to the Tier3D phone, the company is also offering a Tier3D watch. While these are separate products they are also designed to work together as the Tier3D phone has been especially designed so that it can be attached to top of the watch. This allows for the use of the phone in a hands-free way and this is made even easier thanks to the included gesture support.
The Tier3D watch comes with a built-in 3D light field sensor as well, and a special UI that helps with the hands-free usage. The company also mentions the “MindFree” software, which is essentially the company’s AI assistant whose goal is “to improve the efficiency of everyday tasks”.
Again, far more information on the hardware and software of the watch is available through the Indiegogo listing.
Pricing & Perks
This project has actually been fully funded already, but there’s still more than a month left for new backers to join in.
To do so, the company is offering backers the chance to book the phone for just $49. The added benefit of booking early is that you’ll also get the phone for $649 overall, compared to the $799 price that’s due to be in effect when it goes on general sale – the remaining balance will need to be paid four months before the phone is delivered. As an additional perk, you will also get 24-months worth of a premium subscription that offers unlimited and premium access to all the apps and content, as well as 128GB of cloud storage.
The Tier3D phone will ship globally, and is expected to be ready for delivery in March 2020, according to the company.
Those interested in the Tier3D watch, can also take advantage of a low booking price of $29. Again, the watch is also expected to be ready for delivery in March 2020 and early backers will be able to purchase the watch for just $349 – compared to its regular $499 price. Like the Tier3D phone, buyers of the watch will also be entitled to the same 24-month subscription.
For those who want to maximize the savings then buying both the Tier3D phone and Tier3D watch as a bundle is the best way to go. As both products can be booked for $79 and in total will cost you $949. This is compared to the $1,298 if the two products were purchased separately and at full price. Again, the 24-month subscription perk is included.
More information, as well as the option to book either or both of Tier3D’s products are available through the link below. Those who are simply interested in seeing this technology come to market can also contribute financially without having to commit to a purchase.
