AI gadgets weren’t on my Build bingo card, but Microsoft had other plans. During the unveiling of “ Project Solara ,” a new platform for AI agents launched by Microsoft during its annual developer conference, the company also unveiled two new concept devices, and one of them is here to revolutionize the form factor we’ve all been eagerly anticipating the next generation of: the humble badge.

I know, I know… thank god, right? Old badges are so flat and small and screenless, which is fine, but so outdated, which is why Microsoft’s next-gen concept badge has loads of bells and whistles like a touchscreen, a fingerprint sensor, Wi-Fi, 5G connectivity, a microphone for voice inputs and recording, and—I’m not joking—a side -facing camera.

© Screenshot by Gizmodo

To demonstrate this last part, a Microsoft technical fellow Steven Bathiche gave a brief demo using a prototype on stage by uttering the phrase, “Copilot, find some good shots from this, clean them up, and then send them to me for me and my team to…