The Pen: Episodic Cognitive Assistance via an Ear-Worn Interface
This work addresses the user discomfort and privacy concerns associated with always-on wearable AI by proposing an episodic interaction paradigm for cognitive assistance.
This paper explores episodic use of wearable AI, where assistance is intentionally invoked for short periods of focused activity and set aside when no longer needed. They present The Pen, an ear-worn device resembling a pen, for episodic, situated cognitive assistance, supporting short, on-demand assistance sessions using voice and visual context, with clear start/end boundaries and local processing.
Wearable AI is often designed as always-available, yet continuous availability can conflict with how people work and socialize, creating discomfort around privacy, disruption, and unclear system boundaries. This paper explores episodic use of wearable AI, where assistance is intentionally invoked for short periods of focused activity and set aside when no longer needed, with a form factor that reflects this paradigm of wearing and taking off a device between sessions. We present The Pen, an ear-worn device resembling a pen, for episodic, situated cognitive assistance. The device supports short, on-demand assistance sessions using voice and visual context, with clear start/end boundaries and local processing. We report findings from an exploratory study showing how layered activation boundaries shape users' sense of agency, cognitive flow, and social comfort.