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ORi User Guide

What is ORi?

Real-time intelligence for sharper meetings. ORi listens to audio, transcribes speech in real time, and uses AI to extract key concepts — companies, technologies, metrics, strategic ideas — so you can stay present in the conversation while ORi surfaces what matters.

A "concept" is a term, name, metric, or idea ORi extracts from the conversation. We use "concept" throughout this guide.

Privacy at a glance

See the FAQ — Privacy & Security for the full breakdown.


A note from us, for beta users

We're running ORi with two UIs — Bubbles and Cards (Classic) — because we built them for different ways of using ORi. We don't think we'll ship both forever. So we're being open about it: try both, see which one fits how you actually use ORi.

What we built and why:

A future update will add a way to vote for your favorite. For now, switch in Settings → Layout any time — your choice persists across sessions.

We describe each layout fully below, so you can compare without bouncing between them.


Getting Started

Sign up and verify

  1. Visit ori.oriaro.com on your phone or desktop
  2. Enter your name, email, and phone number; accept the Terms
  3. We send a 6-digit SMS code — enter it to verify
  4. ORi loads the transcription model (first time may take 30–60 seconds to download)
  5. Click Start Listening

Pick how ORi listens

When you click Start Listening, an audio capture dialog appears.

A pulsing green dot in the toolbar confirms ORi is listening.


Bubbles (designed for mobile and smaller screens)

When you want ORi to fit on a phone or a narrow window, this is the layout we built for it.

What you see

Reading concepts

The tabs

Why this layout

On a phone screen there isn't room to show three panels at once. Bubbles uses motion and one focused tab to keep more concepts in your peripheral vision while you stay in the conversation.


Cards (Classic — designed for desktop and second screens)

When you have horizontal space — a desktop window, a second monitor — this is the layout to use.

What you see

Three panels lay out at once:

Reading concepts

Why this layout

This was the original ORi interface — built around the idea that a desktop user has the screen room to see Incoming, Questions, and Kept all at once and skim them while staying in the conversation.


Operations (the toolbar, menu, pause — same in both layouts)

The toolbar at the top of the screen looks the same whether you're in Bubbles or Cards.

ControlWhat it does
StatusGreen pulsing dot = listening; amber = paused. Click to toggle.
Pause/ResumeClick status to pause; audio capture stops immediately. Click again to resume.
Switch Audio SourceDesktop only, only visible while capturing — re-opens the audio dialog so you can change source mid-session.
Menu (≡)Reset / End Meeting, Settings, Knowledge Graph, Meeting Debrief, Activating, Dashboard, Help, Send Feedback, Sign Out.

Pausing is safe to use between meetings. Reset / End Meeting clears the session's terms, transcript, and questions but preserves your meeting context and Knowledge Base. ORi automatically restarts into Listening mode.


Configuration on your phone

A note on earbud and headset mics. AirPods, Beats, Bose QC, Galaxy Buds, and similar earbuds / headsets are designed for close-up voice and apply heavy noise suppression that strips out distant sound. They work great for talking *into*, but not for capturing audio across the room. If you're trying to capture a TV, an external speaker, or another device, pin your phone's built-in microphone in the dropdown instead. ORi shows a hint in Settings → Microphone whenever a Bluetooth headset is detected.

Configuration on your desktop


ORi in action

Example 1: a new term arrives

You're in a product strategy call. Someone mentions "MTTR" — a term you've heard but can't quite place. Within seconds, ORi surfaces the concept (as a card in Cards, as a bubble in Bubbles) with the category "Business Metrics" and a context line from the conversation.

Tap or click it — you get a concise explanation: *"Mean Time To Recovery — the average time it takes to restore a system after a failure."* Now you understand why it matters in the SLA discussion happening right now. The concept is saved to Kept with the lookup attached.

Example 2: collecting a question

During the same call, someone mentions "error budget" in the context of reliability targets. ORi surfaces the concept. You tap it; after a few seconds the lookup shows context-aware questions you might want to ask:

The second one is exactly what you were thinking. You click + to collect it — the question lands in Questions, and the "error budget" concept moves to Kept automatically.

Later, when you ask the question in the meeting, you check it off in the Questions list.

Example 3: ORi learns what matters to you

In your next meeting — different team, different topic — someone mentions "MTTR" again. Because you kept it last time, ORi has added it to your personal Knowledge Base. The concept surfaces faster, with a purple border (Cards) or a brighter glow (Bubbles) and a "Kept Nx" hint, before you even register the mention.

This is ORi's learning loop: keep a concept once, and ORi watches for it in every future meeting. The more you use ORi, the more attuned it becomes to the concepts that matter in your world — without any manual configuration.


How ORi learns

Every time you keep a concept, ORi adds it to your personal Knowledge Base — a persistent store that spans sessions, meetings, and restarts.

Here's what happens:

  1. You keep a concept — it's saved to the Knowledge Base on this device.
  2. Next meeting starts — ORi loads your Knowledge Base into the AI extraction prompt as "watched topics".
  3. The AI prioritises them — watched topics are extracted faster and resurface with less delay than new ones.
  4. Visual recognition — incoming concepts matching the Knowledge Base get a purple border (Cards) or a brighter glow (Bubbles) and a "Kept Nx" hint.
The Knowledge Base lives on this device, in your browser. It persists across sessions and is never uploaded.

No configuration required, no training step. Just use ORi naturally, and it adapts to your domain over time — privately.


Saving your work

Click ≡ → Meeting Debrief to generate a concise AI debrief of the session — key takeaways as bullet points.

The debrief feeds the Activating panel (≡ → Activating) which has three tabs:

Activating refreshes when your Knowledge Graph changes; results are cached for 24 hours.


Knowledge Graph

The Knowledge Graph (≡ → Knowledge Graph) is a visual explorer for everything you've kept across sessions.

The Knowledge Graph is the persistent, cross-session view of everything ORi has learned about your domain — beyond what's in any single session's Kept.


Settings

Open the settings panel (≡ → Settings) to configure ORi.

Appearance

SettingOptions
ThemeDark / Light
Text contrastNormal / High / Maximum
Text sizeSmall / Medium / Large
LayoutCards (Classic) / Bubbles

Audio & Transcription

SettingDescription
Whisper modelTiny / Base / Small / Medium / Large. Larger is more accurate; smaller is faster. Default is Base.
Engine modeAuto / GPU / CPU. Auto picks the best for your browser and hardware. GPU mode keeps things cool and quiet on long meetings; CPU is the fallback.
Active model statusAfter the model loads, the status line shows which model and engine are running (e.g. "Active: Medium via GPU").
Microphone devicePick a specific input or stick with System default. Hint appears if a Bluetooth earbud/headset is detected.
Adaptive downgrade: During long sessions, if the selected model causes thermal throttling, ORi automatically switches to a lighter model to keep transcription real-time. Restore the original in Settings any time.

Tuning

SettingRangeDefault
Extraction interval3–30 seconds15s
Overlap segments2–53
Card / bubble visibility5–30 seconds15s

AI Provider — Bring Your Own Key

During the Beta, ORi's AI is included — no key needed. Bring your own API key for unlimited usage beyond the Beta's daily limits.

SettingDescription
ProviderAnthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT), Google Gemini, or xAI (Grok).
API KeyPaste your provider's key (label and format adapt to the selected provider).
Clear keyRemoves the key for the current provider.

Your keys are encrypted on ORi's servers and never stored in your browser. Switching providers doesn't lose previously-saved keys.

For step-by-step instructions on creating an account and obtaining an API key for each provider, see How to Get Your AI Provider API Key.

Privacy

SettingDescription
Usage AnalyticsToggle anonymous statistics on/off (default on). No meeting content, audio, or term names are transmitted — only counts and timing data.

Account

FeatureDescription
Verify on restartA 6-digit SMS code is sent on each restart by default.
Remember this deviceSkip verification for 30 days.
Sign outClears session, triggers a new SMS code.
Re-registerChanged your phone number? Request a re-registration email from the verify screen.
Terms of ServiceView the terms you accepted.

Where settings are stored


Verification & sign-in

Regular sign-in

Each time ORi starts (unless Remember this device is checked):

  1. An SMS code is sent to your phone
  2. The verify screen appears
  3. Enter the 6-digit code → you're in

Codes expire after 10 minutes — use Resend for a fresh one.

Remember this device

Check Remember this device for 30 days on the verify screen or in Settings → Account to skip verification for 30 days.

Use a different number

On the verify screen, click Use a different number to register with a new phone.

Re-register (changed phone number)

If you no longer have access to your registered phone:

  1. On the verify screen, click Re-register account
  2. We send an email to the address on file (valid 24 hours)
  3. Click the link to update your phone number

Help

Click ≡ → Help to open the assistant. It's a chat interface — ask anything about ORi.

The Help bot knows what layout you're in and what you have configured (your AI provider, microphone, transcription engine, model). When you ask "where is Kept?" it answers for *your* layout. When you ask "what AI is running?" it tells you *your* configured provider.

It's also grounded in ORi's documentation, so answers reference real settings, menus, and features by name. The bot maintains conversation history during your session — follow-up questions work naturally.

Things you can ask

Diagnostic mode

When you send your first message, the Help bot automatically analyzes your current session — settings, hardware, runtime state, and recent errors — so it can give a specific, data-driven answer. You don't need to do anything.

If the automated snapshot doesn't resolve the issue, the bot may show a Send Detailed Logs button. Clicking it sends extended debug logs for deeper analysis — an SMS verification code is required first. This is automated analysis; no human reviews the data.

If the bot can't resolve the problem, it escalates to an ORi team member who can review the thread and reply. A notification badge appears on the Help button when they have responded.

Privacy: the automatic snapshot contains your settings, hardware info, and runtime error state — not transcript content. Extended logs (SMS-gated) similarly redact meeting content.

Dashboard

Open the Dashboard panel (≡ → Dashboard) to see Your ORi Activity — a value-mirror of how you've used ORi over time. The panel slides in from the right and refreshes every 15 seconds while open.

Period selector

Buttons at the top scope the numbers to 7d, 30d, 90d, or All Time.

Headline stats

StatWhat it counts
SessionsNumber of meetings you ran ORi on in the period
Concepts SurfacedTotal concepts ORi pulled out of those meetings
KeptConcepts you kept (saved) for follow-up
Keep RateKept ÷ Surfaced — how often what ORi shows you is worth keeping
Questions CollectedOpen questions ORi noticed during the meeting
Questions CompletedOf those, how many you've answered or resolved

If a session is currently active, a strip below the stats shows live counters for that session.


Troubleshooting

The fastest way to troubleshoot is to ask the Help assistant (≡ → Help). The bot automatically analyzes your current session — settings, hardware, audio state, and recent errors — and gives you a specific, step-by-step answer tailored to *your* layout, *your* configuration, and what's happening right now.

Quick tips before asking

For anything else, the Help assistant has the full documentation and your live session state. Just ask.


Current Status & Roadmap

ORi is in open web beta. ORi Web is the product — runs in any modern browser, on phone or desktop, no install needed.

What's next

PhaseDescription
NowORi Web on phone and desktop, free to beta users — bring your own AI key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, or Grok) for unlimited usage
NextSharper recall and richer context — ORi remembers the concepts you keep, connects ideas across meetings, and keeps tuning what surfaces for you
LaterTiered usage — free and paid tiers introduced after we understand what beta users actually depend on
FuturePossible native apps for desktop and mobile, depending on what beta tells us

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