1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Felix Hartmann, Hartmann Capital (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: So tell me more about what you’re seeing in terms of AI in your world. Even if it’s earlier-stage investments, what kind of things have you invested in, and what trends are you noticing?

Felix Hartman: One area I’m extremely excited about and spending more and more time on is human-AI integration. Specifically, how do we bring AI into our daily lives?

Two areas I find especially interesting over the next five years are smart glasses and brain-computer interfaces.

In March, we backed a company called Metro that built an operating system for smart glasses. When I say smart glasses, I’m not talking about bulky VR headsets—I mean lightweight glasses where all the computing happens in the back. These glasses weigh under 40 grams, which is crucial so that users don’t feel them or get tired wearing them. They offer around 24 hours of battery life.

Why is this relevant? For AI to be truly useful, it should be able to see what you see, hear what you hear, enhance and annotate the world around you, show you things, and be able to talk to you. So, what is the best form factor for AI to be imbibed in all senses? People might say the jury’s still out on it. They will try camera and AirPods. But if you have long hair, they will be blocked. People try pendants, but they flip around. Uless it’s a 360-degree camera, it’s tricky. Glasses make a lot of sense. They naturally align with your field of view. If you move your head, the camera moves, and your hands are free.

We’re not into hardware ourselves; we’re focused on software. That’s why we backed the operating system behind these glasses. There are already some amazing applications. For example, when I was in Japan recently, I used an app that provides real-time translation. I’d hear Japanese, and the glasses would display the English translation on the screen.

Of course, that’s not revolutionary on its own—you can do that with ChatGPT today. But this happens in real-time and on the go. There’s another app that listens to conversations and enhances your knowledge based on what you’re talking about. Say someone name-drops a person I don’t know—it instantly shows me who that is. If we discuss India’s economy, it might pop up relevant GDP stats or AI investment figures.

The point is, AI can do so much. The challenge is how to integrate it into daily life in a way that truly elevates our intelligence—raising our real-time IQ. This is still early-stage. The company has hundreds of developers but isn’t focused on revenue yet. The priority is capturing developer mindshare. If they can get thousands of killer apps built on their OS, they win. That’s a strong example of how we see AI becoming part of everyday life.

This segment is part 4 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Felix Hartmann, Hartmann Capital
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