The origin story
We’ve been so deep in the trenches these past 6 months, that we haven’t updated everyone as much as we should have. So, we wanted to share the crazy journey we’ve had so far and clue you into what’s next at Clay. But first, a quick recap of where we left off :)
It started back in September 2023, when we took a day-long walk at Regent’s Park. We talked about the future of computing, imagining how voice could become the way we interact with technology. But we also dug deep into personal topics – our goals, morality, and the legacy we wanted to leave on the world.
By the end of that walk, we had two convictions:
- Voice-powered interactions will make our relationship with technology seamless, natural, and magical.
- Innovation is needed to make voice interaction a practical part of our daily lives.
That’s how Clay (back then, we called it Epiph) was born. We set out to make voice-based computing private, discreet, and practical, focusing on capturing ultra-quiet whispers as a new way to interact with computers. With that, we started building like crazy – making multiple demos, testing different bio-signals, designing electrode multiplexing systems and industrial design concepts.
In that time, we were incredibly lucky to have Jeremy, Qing Ru and Trent as amazing supporters who believed in our vision of private, discreet interactions that created “AI in your head”. And with their help, we found ourselves presenting at the Foresight Vision Weekend (Foresight Institute) in October 2023 and winning the UCL AI Foundry pitch event in March 2024!
Through what feels like a stroke of luck, the Vision Weekend was also where we met Danielle and, later on, Harry from 1517 fund, who ended up putting in the largest angel check of $100,000 into Clay, six months ago.
That’s where we left off, before we descended deep into the trenches for 6 months of prototyping, conducting research, talking to users, and pushing the bounds of what’s possible with voice.
Stay tuned for the next post in this series where we dive into what we’ve been working on since!
Summer 2024 Updates:
Part 1: The origin story
Part 2: Build Time!
Part 3: Burnout