If there's one big takeaway from last night's Rabbit R1 launch event, it's this: Hardware can be fun again. After a decade of unquestionable dominance of smartphones, there is renewed excitement in consumer electronics. The wisdom and longevity of individual products and form factors, while important, can be set aside for a moment. Just sit back and enjoy the show.
Despite flying out of the airport almost every month, last night was my first night at the TWA Hotel, located at the maze-like junction of JFK Airport's Terminal 5. After all, people rarely stay in hotels where they live. The space is a nod to another era, when people dressed up to fly and smiling chefs carved whole legs of ham.
Image credit: Brian Heater
A rented DeLorean emblazoned with rabbit branding was parked out front, serving as a postmodern homage to the past the event has embraced over the past decade. Less noticeable was a Ritchie Valens song interjected between Motown hits on the elevator speakers as we descended three floors to the basement event space.
When I arrived at the venue, several hundred people were already lined up. Familiar faces from the world of technology journalism were weighing in, and quite a few early adopters were excited. The two groups were distinguished by “Press” and “VIP” straps, respectively. The man standing in front of me in line offered to fly in from Los Angeles for this event.
Like Humane, the Rabbit team is clearly focused on spectacle. Although the approach is similar, the former is different in that it invests a lot of money in viral videos. solar eclipse teaser It clearly billed itself as a spiritual successor to Apple's famous “1984” spot. But it feels like Rabbit really didn't anticipate how much of a buzz his CES 2024 debut at the company would generate.
“When we started developing R1, we said internally that we would be happy if we sold 500 devices on launch day,” the company said. Posted in X. “In 24 hours, she has already outperformed her by 20 times.”
It would have been difficult to time the release just right. The hype around generative AI was at its peak. Humane had announced his Ai pin but hadn't released it yet. Intel has declared 2024 the year of the AI PC, and soon Samsung will do the same with smartphones. Meanwhile, Apple had promised to announce its own big news on this front in the coming months.
Image credit: Brian Heater
When hosting a big show, technology companies also need to grace the role. A focus on product design is another important similarity between rabbits and humanity. Although their form factors are very different, the Ai Pin and R1 both prove the value of industrial design. As part of that, Rabbit took a page out of his Nothing playbook and contracted the bigwigs at Teenage Engineering to create a highly original-looking product. Indeed, the R1 looks more like a work of art than anything else. It's a stubby orange object that you'll want to attach to your bike's handlebars in bad weather.
While the Ai Pin's defining physical feature is its lack of a display, the Rabbit embraces a screen, albeit modestly. The display is only 2.88 inches, which feels almost coincidental at times. That goes double when it comes to touch functionality. Similar to Ai Pin, the majority of interactions are performed by voice, but a combination of analog scrolling and buttons primarily fill in the gaps.
There are many reasons to touch the screen other than entering your Wi-Fi password. That's the best. The most important and continuing challenge facing the nascent AI device field is justifying its existence outside of smartphones. After all, anyone with a halfway decent mobile device (and plenty of less-so-so mobile devices) has access to generative AI models. For now, these are primarily accessed via browsers or standalone apps, but models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini will increasingly be integrated into mobile operating systems in the coming months and years.
Image credit: Brian Heater
When I asked Humane a question, co-founder and CEO Bethany Bongiorno shared this anecdote:[Humane’s co-founders] We went to this dinner and there was a family sitting next to us. There were three kids, a mom and a dad, and they were on their cell phones the whole time. The conversation really started about not only the great tool we had built, but also some of the side effects. ”
The Ai Pin essentially has no screen. Again, there are many reasons to question the wisdom and effectiveness of that design decision, but either way, it's very important to the product. It is worth noting that the price justification barrier of $199 is significantly lower than Ai Pin's asking price.
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The truth is that at this early first generation stage, novelty is a big selling point. Either you realize the appeal of his dedicated LLM access device, or you don't. Rabbit's relatively affordable price point opens up this world considerably. You should also consider that R1 doesn't require a monthly service fee, whereas Humane charges $24 per month for its features. Add to this a (albeit limited) touchscreen and a very nice design, and you can see why this product has taken quite a bit of wind out of Ai Pin's sails.
Neither device swaps apps like modern smartphones do. Interact only with the onboard operating system. However, this can be connected to other accounts such as Spotify, Uber, Midjourney, and DoorDash. This system can capture voice recordings and provide two-way translation. The system can also obtain environmental context via an onboard camera.
Rabbit R1's AI vision capabilities vary. Each capture also varies considerably, including the details it recognizes and the context it provides. (Sorry for the construction noise) pic.twitter.com/lf7WcOt8Rz
— Brian Heater (@bheater) April 24, 2024
One of the first tests I tried was to provide a description of my bookshelf. I pointed my camera at her row of four hardcovers. Herman Melville's Moby Dick. “The Barbary Coast” by Herbert Asbury. “Understanding the Media” by Marshall McLuhan. and “Dodsworth” by Sinclair Lewis. The last book had difficulties overall, and unsurprisingly, this book was the least clear of this group.
For the most part, he recognized and understood what he was seeing in Moby Dick, calling it a “classic” and occasionally providing a brief synopsis. His two books in the middle were recognized 50% to 75% of the time. They also tried to provide some context for their curation choices, and sometimes went to extremes to compliment them.
However, there were times when the context got a little more complicated. I asked him when the Oakland A's game would be in R1 (added the city after initial inquiry only showed “A” as “Ace”). He then told me tonight's game time before listing his next 10 games. The team they are playing. But hey, I'm a lifelong A's fan. I enjoy defeats like that.
Image credit: Brian Heater
What's worth noting in all of these early articles is that these types of devices are designed to improve and customize their results the more you use them. I am writing this having just received the device last night. I'm going to send it to Devin for more details.
Having only played with the R1 for a few hours, I can safely say that the touchscreen and price point make it a more accessible device than the Humane Pin. It doesn't resolve the cultural screen obsessions that Humane is interested in, nor does it seem to be shooting towards such grand ambitions in the first place. Rather, it's a beautifully designed product that provides compelling insight into where things are headed.