California defense startup Smack Technologies has raised $61 million in Series B funding to develop Alpha, a wrist-worn device that connects operators to real-time data processed by the company’s Omega AI software.
Andy Markoff, Smack’s co-founder and chief executive, said the company began with software to train its models around routine operations and is now building hardware to put those models in the field. “Alpha tackles a much harder problem because you have to make the model work in the field with hardware and little to no connectivity, but we’ve always known this is what has to happen to enable decision dominance,” he said.
The move to a wrist-worn display responds to a persistent gap in military use of artificial intelligence: analysis often happens on servers far from the battlefield, while troops receive results through radios, tablets or other devices. Smack’s approach is to place a flexible screen on an operator’s forearm so actionable options arrive where they can be acted on quickly.
How the AI wrist-worn display will work
Markoff, a former Marine Raider, described the Alpha form factor as a replacement for the whiteboard and grease pencil he used to wear on his forearm. “The form factor we’re building replaces what I literally used to wear on my forearm, only here I’m exchanging a whiteboard and grease pencil for a flexible computer screen that has our models’ capabilities on it,” he said.
He compared the device to a quarterback sleeve: sensors collect information on enemy forces and locations, send that information to the forearm screen, and present “actionable decision options informed by campaign equities and adjacent units,” Markoff said. Smack frames the system as a way to decentralize command and control by encoding commander’s intent—goals, theater priorities, constraints and coordination guidance—for frontline operators.
Markoff acknowledged hardware is the easier challenge and that the harder task is determining precisely what information an operator needs in the field. He emphasized the intent is not for AI to make decisions, but to provide operators with enough information to make better ones, potentially increasing effectiveness while reducing wasted time and resources.
He also noted limits of other wearable concepts such as heads-up displays, particularly in demanding environments. “If you’ve ever walked in the jungle at night, you know you’d actually rather risk having an eyeball poked out by a tree than wear shooting glasses that fog up and prevent you from seeing anything,” he said.
Alpha has been in development for about four months. Markoff projects Smack will have a working prototype within a year and could secure contracts for the device within two years.
