Caitlin Kalinowski, the former head of Meta's AR glasses development, is joining OpenAI. The AI specialist is apparently planning a major push into robotics and consumer hardware with this move.
As confirmed by TechCrunch, Caitlin Kalinowski, the former chief of AR hardware development at Meta, is moving to OpenAI. There, she will be responsible for the areas of robotics and consumer hardware.
"IIn my new role, I will initially focus on OpenAI’s robotics work and partnerships to help bring AI into the physical world and unlock its benefits for humanity," Kalinowski explains on X.
The hardware expert brings many years of experience: At Meta, she led the AR glasses team since March 2022 and prior to that, she led VR hardware development for nine years. Before that, she worked at Apple on the design of MacBooks. The AR glasses prototype Orion, developed under her leadership, recently made big waves. According to Meta, the glasses feature the most advanced AR display in the world, with a 70-degree field of view. Seven cameras and sensors as well as specially developed chips enable control via voice, gaze, and hand gestures.
Is OpenAI working on smart glasses?
Kalinowski may work with former Apple designer Jony Ive at OpenAI. With his company LoveFrom, he is already developing an AI hardware product for OpenAI. The goal is not to build a better smartphone, and the product is still "a long way away," Altman told Axios in September.
The success of ChatGPT has spawned a number of new gadgets trying to take advantage of the technology. While the AI gadgets from Rabbit and Humane offer little added value compared to smartphone integration and have not been very successful so far, Meta already has a relatively successful product with its RayBan glasses. Far from being real AR glasses, the combination of camera and Meta AI seems to be well received. A project similar to Orion by Kalinowski at OpenAI could therefore make sense.
