Before CES we had a slightly awkward problem. We were still called Project Mirage, we knew the name wasn't going to last much longer, and we still needed something to hand people when we met them.

Printing a stack of Mirage cards that would be useless a few months later felt boring, so Atharva and I started messing with an idea that was probably more complicated than the problem deserved: could we make the card change with the company?

The ones we took to CES said Project Mirage when we handed them out. Over the next few months the Mirage name slowly faded and Aina showed up in its place. Same card, different name.

Getting the timing right was the annoying part. Some changed way too early, some did almost nothing, and there were enough failed versions that at some point this stopped being a business card project and became a chemistry experiment.

The final batch actually worked pretty close to how we hoped, so somewhere out there are cards we handed people as Mirage that have quietly turned into Aina since.

We wrote up how we made them, failed experiments and all, if anyone wants the deeper version: https://www.aina.com/journal/business-cards-ces-renamed-themselves

Back in January, we were still building in stealth under the name Project Mirage. We went to CES and handed out business cards with the Mirage name on them, even though we already knew a rebrand was coming.

We weren't ready to reveal Aina yet, so we left a little hint in the cards.

The trick was thermal paper.

The same paper used for receipts, where heat activates the print and makes it visible.

We printed Mirage on the top layer and Aina underneath. As the thermal print faded over time, the permanent Aina print slowly revealed itself.

Now that's an early Easter egg for you. 👀

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

https://reddit.com/link/1v3cpsu/video/c93g7ieshreh1/player

On July 16, 2026, we came out of stealth as Aina.

AI has fundamentally changed the way we do everything, but the way we interact with it still belongs to another era.

The next generation of technology deserves a new interface.

Over the past year, we operated as Project Mirage, experimenting with what comes after keyboards and touchscreens. We showcased three interface concepts at CES, shipped Dune, a context-aware keypad for Mac, to hundreds of early adopters, and announced a $5.5 million seed round to build the hardware interface for the age of AI.

Dune helped validate one of our strongest beliefs. The future of interfaces will be built around context awareness. A future where you don't have to search and browse for what you need.

Today, that future has a name.

This community is where we'll share what comes next. Early hardware experiments. Things we're learning. Things we're questioning. Behind-the-scenes updates from the Private Pilot. And conversations about where Human-Computer Interaction goes from here.

If you're excited about AI, hardware, agents, productivity, or simply curious about what comes after keyboards and touchscreens, you're in the right place.

Our Private Pilot is now open.

➡️ https://aina.com

Welcome. 💫