World, formerly known as Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency, human identity network, and universal basic income (UBI) initiative co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has introduced an updated Orb device. This new device employs iris scanning to tackle the emerging challenge of authenticating human identity in the era of artificial intelligence.
Users registering for the system will be issued a World ID, allowing them to securely and anonymously authenticate their human identity online, and will receive a portion of the associated WLD cryptocurrency tokens.
The new Orb model features a 30% reduction in components compared to the previous version, reportedly making manufacturing simpler and more cost-effective. It is also equipped with Nvidia's Jetson robotics and AI platform, although the exact reasons for this integration were not specified. Rich Heley, Chief Equipment Officer of Tools for Humanity—the foundation behind the World project—stated at a Thursday event that the simplified design will help achieve the goal of widespread Orb adoption.
Heley stated, "To make Orb accessible to everyone, we need a significantly larger number of devices, potentially thousands of times more than our current inventory. Moreover, it's not just about quantity; we need to deploy Orbs in more locations." In addition to accelerating Orb production, World is even enabling individuals to purchase or lease their own iris-scanning spheres to start verifying unique humans within their communities.
World has introduced a new service named "Orb on Demand," with Heley explaining that users can order Orbs similarly to how they would order a pizza delivered to their apartment. Furthermore, the Orb will expand to additional countries, including Costa Rica, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco.
While World’s ID service has been launched in the United States, its cryptocurrency tokens have not yet been introduced in the U.S. market.
World claims to have verified nearly 7 million "unique individuals," but concerns about establishing a private global database based on biometric technology and privacy issues remain prevalent.
Last year, Kenya suspended World’s operations to investigate its data collection practices, although the investigation was later dropped. Hong Kong has required World to halt all operations within the region due to privacy risks, and both Portugal and Spain have taken similar actions against the project.
