The makers of the Stem Player made a small projector that’s Kanye West-free

Kano Computing’s Stem Player is one of the coolest gadgets I’ve ever used. It’s a weird soft-pack device that lets you control parts of a song in real time by simply swiping up or down. But Stem Player wasn’t much of a fan these days, as he was deeply associated with Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, who took a very anti-Semitic turn.

Now Kano is back with the next Stem device. Not only is it Ye-free, it’s a completely different kind of gadget. It’s a video projector called Stem Projector. The company also hints at wild future concepts for his Stem products like Stem food (yes, food), but more on that later.

Like the Stem Player, the projector is a small circular pack made of thick material, but slightly larger. As for the controls, there are tactile, touch-sensitive controls on the ring and six buttons. Store your own content on the 256GB hard drive and add storage thanks to the microSD card slot. It has a mini HDMI port, can be used as a projector for things like game consoles, and supports Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.

However, it doesn’t seem to be the brightest projector.in an interview with The Barge, Kano CEO Alex Klein said it will reach 300 lumens or 150 ANSI lumens. For comparison, Samsung’s compact Freestyle projector measured at 240 ANSI lumens. So the Stem Projector will be darker. But Klein says he’s got an onboard battery that lasts 4-5 hours of continuous use at full brightness, so in theory he could pack a decent amount of content on a single charge. will be available for viewing. (This is a huge advantage over freestyles that don’t have batteries.)

Klein also said it will come with some preloaded content. He didn’t say exactly what the content was, but said, “We are working with some of the best directors in the world, as well as some of the most interesting libraries like Mubi and The Criterion Collection. The projector is also compatible with Chromecast and AirPlay, so you can stream content from your phone.

I haven’t seen or tried the device myself, but in a Google Meet call, Klein showed some videos from his phone and talked about how to use it. It’s not exactly like a typical projector, so I’ll put it in his own words.

Specific content will be displayed when the projector is started. frame in front of you. Spinning the ring will pass through other content there. Some of them were added by us. Some are added algorithmically.Part of [the content is] There’s also a live channel, James Terrell-style artwork, wall savers, wall screen savers, and more. Press the middle button to start playing content. Press it again to pause and that frame becomes the film preview.very exploratory [and] An ambient way to enjoy instantly immersive videos and movies.

Using machine learning, the projector is supposed to tag objects in videos stored on the device so that a stream of related clips can be displayed in what Klein called “galaxy mode.” . For example, if you’re watching a clip with trees or a floor plan and you activate galaxy mode, your device will give you more content with trees and plants and say, “Different versions of this ambient of what you were looking at. I create Dreams, a variety of incredible movies and films that I have added myself,” said Klein.The idea sounds somewhat like Sam Barlow’s new game immortalityallows you to explore film clips by clicking objects to view related objects in different scenes.

You can get an idea of ​​how the device works with this ad from Kano.

According to Klein, the larger vision for projectors like the Stem Player is to build a device that takes the head off your smartphone. “On cellphones, we’re always looking down. We’re always looking at our hands,” he said. “With a projector, you look up. You are looking out. We want to bring it to the world.”

We’ll have to see if Stem Projector’s more novel elements make up for what can be a dim display. accept.

I asked if Ye was part of the project. Klein told me Ye wasn’t involved with the projector and that the company’s collaboration with the rapper, which included making Stem Player his exclusive home for Donda 2, was over. Ye “clearly saw Stem’s new medium as innovative and different,” Klein said. “I think it’s always a beautiful moment. But given what’s been said so badly, there’s no active collaboration right now.” There are “about” Stem Players, but Klein said there are “no plans” to bring new Ye content to future devices.

The projector is one of the few released earlier this year, says Klein. Kano has also opened pre-orders for his new Stem Player, featuring exclusive music from Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ghostface Killah. They will ship in February, and you’ll be able to sign up for a monthly subscription that gives you access to music, mini-documentaries, meetups with rappers, and exclusive concerts, Klein said in an email.

The company also wants to establish Stem as “a new kind of consumer product idea,” so it plans to launch more products “in January, February and March,” Klein said. He hinted that the company is working on something far beyond the realm of gadgets like boots, and that “it might even be able to make food.”

I asked him what that meant. Klein said Kano “found there is considerable overlap between many areas of design and product development today. The intelligence built into the Stem Player and interface, and the way it reacts to your touch and movement, can also inform how clothing works.”

That means Kano has “this big imaginary dream.” “We see the potential to unify the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the devices we use, and even the spaces we live in. A single integrated engineered system,” he said. He mentioned how Apple products work together to simplify “some parts” of life. “Imagine that unification extends to the exact size and fit of your clothes, and the exact nutritional balance of your food.”

Personally, I’m skeptical that Kano can achieve a unified system for your lifetime.that is many As a smaller company than tech giants that have tried (and failed) to do something similar, I still don’t quite understand how they’ll get from Stem Player to foods made by Kano. It works because it consists of a limited number of tech gadgets, but given that it’s been waiting for years for rumored projects like mixed reality headsets and cars, it’s one of the world’s biggest companies. Even Apple, one of the

Speaking with Klein, though, I get the impression that Kano wants to change the direction of a company that started out as a company that made educational computers. Stem Player was a good start, and we can expect new projectors as well. However, I don’t know much about stem food.