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Hands-On With the Rabbit r1 Pocket AI Assistant

The Rabbit r1 has the look and feel of single-use devices that are made for the disability community. Devices like these are sold through contractors to be issued out as prosthetic devices, under the umbrella of accessibility. I see this most often in adult rehab centers, such as VA Blind Rehab. They target the elderly who are new to their disability and get justification for their issuance by being simple, because there's a odd intersection of learning new technology and accessibility--one has to learn the accessibility on a device they've never used, like an iPhone. Devices such as the Rabbit r1 have limited functionality and don't do their intended tasks well.
The iPhone is the killer of devices like these because the hardware works with a bunch of other complex hardware through software; the software takes advantage of the hardware sophistication in a focused form. Each app allows for different, focused features. So, instead of investing in single-use hardware with weak capabilities and UI, the iPhone is like a Swiss Army knife that you can add more tools to.
Dan Barber showed off a Rabbit r1 feature at the beginning and illustrated the feature coolness, but also showed the devices clunkiness. Be My Eyes does this, but is a free app. Give it a try and compare.
apps.apple.com

‎Be My Eyes

‎People who are blind or have low vision now have three powerful tools in one with Be My Eyes. Worldwide more than half a million people who are blind use the innovative Be My Eyes app through their smartphone to get visual description when they need it. Connect with more than 7 million...
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com
 
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Tagbert said:
And yet you did and you commented about it. Seems like you’re actually interested, after all.

This kind of article is about technology and the industry that Apple a part of. Ignore the environment and you can develop tunnel vision. What Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin are doing are examples of a technology that Apple has said that they will be incorporating into their devices. Think of this as a preview of what we could see from Apple. Hopefully Apple’s version will be much better integrated because integration is something that they do well.
Click to expand...
The comments here do get me thinking.

I understand why these companies are doing what they are - they have a product that sounds like it would be better served as an app on the smartphone or smartwatch, yet iOS will never give them the unfettered system-level access they need to make said concept work, and releasing an app solely for android would make it dead in the water.

Thus, the only alternative left to them is to make their own hardware and try to work around the smartphone, but the problem then comes when you are left with a device that is inferior to the smartphone in every aspect. Another issue is that people don't really hate their smartphones, and aren't clamouring to toss them away anytime soon.

This is also why I am not too worried about Apple supposedly being behind in the AI race. First, I am of the opinion that a lot of what we are seeing in the AI space is pure hype that will fizzle out sooner than later (kinda like smart speakers in 2016). Second, think about how google assistant or Alexa's supposed superiority over Siri didn't have any impact because Apple will continue to just make Siri the default assistant on their hardware like the Apple Watch, and users' choice of smartwatches is dictated by their smartphones, and I don't see users discarding the apple ecosystem just for a better digital assistant.

Apple will get there eventually. Maybe later than sooner, but Apple will get there.
 
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Some neat capabilities, and attractive industrial design. But I see absolutely nothing here that couldn’t be done by a smartphone app. Why would you want to carry around a separate “AI” device in addition to your phone?
 
Abazigal said:
I am of the opinion that a lot of what we are seeing in the AI space is pure hype that will fizzle out sooner than later (kinda like smart speakers in 2016).
Click to expand...

Speaker “hype” may have died out but pretty much everyone I know has at least one smart speaker in their house. Sometimes many. The hype just gave way to them being a boring product that we use every day but hardly think about.
 
This is a device that’s doing its learning NOW. They have the outline, but this is one of those things that needs real-world use and feedback, which is what it’s hopefully doing now.

If I had money to burn I’d buy one, but I don’t, so I hope it works out for them.
 
None of theses gadgets they are releasing is gonna work. We have phones. Are you gonna have another device in your pockets that can do a fraction of your phone.

"Oh, better I put the phone I have in my hands in my pocket and get my IA device form the other pocket..."
 
Tagbert said:
And yet you did and you commented about it. Seems like you’re actually interested, after all.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I commented about it saying I don’t want tech news that isn’t Apple related. How is this confusing to you?
 
Tricky brief really - some form of AI device but can't use a screen really as your phone has a really good one and a good size.....would be better built into an earbud or specs if they could get it small enough but in current form - just terrible.
 
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macfacts said:
As a separate hardware device, they don't have to pay the apple tax. As an app, they have to pay the apple tax.
Click to expand...
But being a hardware device, they have to put a lot of effort into ways to integrate with the phone apps and data. As an app that would be easier.
 
Can I get a list of the investors that gave these guys the money to make this device?

I’m sure they would be very interested in buying this “AI Brooklyn Bridge” I have developed!
 
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Bankage said:
The Rabbit r1 has the look and feel of single-use devices that are made for the disability community. Devices like these are sold through contractors to be issued out as prosthetic devices, under the umbrella of accessibility. I see this most often in adult rehab centers, such as VA Blind Rehab. They target the elderly who are new to their disability and get justification for their issuance by being simple, because there's a odd intersection of learning new technology and accessibility--one has to learn the accessibility on a device they've never used, like an iPhone. Devices such as the Rabbit r1 have limited functionality and don't do their intended tasks well.
The iPhone is the killer of devices like these because the hardware works with a bunch of other complex hardware through software; the software takes advantage of the hardware sophistication in a focused form. Each app allows for different, focused features. So, instead of investing in single-use hardware with weak capabilities and UI, the iPhone is like a Swiss Army knife that you can add more tools to.
Dan Barber showed off a Rabbit r1 feature at the beginning and illustrated the feature coolness, but also showed the devices clunkiness. Be My Eyes does this, but is a free app. Give it a try and compare.
apps.apple.com

‎Be My Eyes

‎People who are blind or have low vision now have three powerful tools in one with Be My Eyes. Worldwide more than half a million people who are blind use the innovative Be My Eyes app through their smartphone to get visual description when they need it. Connect with more than 7 million...
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com
Click to expand...
I wouldn't dismiss dedicated accessibility devices just yet. I have one that works pretty well at describing a scene or reading text aloud. Still, there is a long way to go and IMO the competition among companies will do nothing but make good accessibility devices unaffordable. They'll consider it a cash cow, just like most medicines and medical equipment.
 
a good solution to this "all day looking at your smartphone" problem is to divide again the things you do in your smartphone, so get a dumbphone+a tablet for internte webbrowsing+ a contact agenda + plus a paper calendar, +a calculator + a wraist watch + buy newspaper at shops + use social networks/porn just in your computer + youtube in your TV ETCC...

smartphone screen addition over
 
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MacRumors said:
The idea with the Rabbit r1 is to be less reliant on a smartphone, so there's no app for it. That's kind of a hassle if you want to get to the photos and other information that you've stored on it, because it's only accessible through the Rabbit Hole website.
Click to expand...

There seems to be a strong rationale for the existence of the Humane AI pin -- at least the idea of what it intends to be seems to make sense regardless of how well executed it is. The Rabbit r1 device just seems to be a crippled phone. Why would you turn to a Rabbit r1 device rather than your phone?

If the Humane AI pin works well/is well executed, I can see why one wouldn't necessarily turn to your phone. But the Raabbit r1....?
 
victorvictoria said:
Really? Looks and sounds like something marketed to AARP members who can't operated their computers or smartphones. (disclaimer: I'm 73 YO). I'll wait for Apple to incorporate it in my next iPhone so I can use it with the Apple Watch, HomeKit, and Apple TV.
Click to expand...
This reminds me of something genuinely hilarious I saw in Japan recently: An 8-page, glossy, full-color, tabloid-size ad for a pocket electronic dictionary. In 2024. For the regional equivalent of at least $400.

You can do so much with it: Look up word definitions! Check the correct kanji to use! Get encyclopedia entries! It even has a color touchscreen!

It would have been an awesome device in like 1998, but is kind of hilarious in how much you're spending for a dedicated, non-upgradable device that costs more than a low-end phone that does everything it will plus a heck of a lot more.

BUT... as you say, there are a handful of people in the world who can't handle a smartphone, and that's clearly who the electronic dictionary in question was targeting. Maybe it really is useful for those folks, too--if so, more power to them.

As for this thing, I agree that could be who it's for, but I'm pretty sure in reality that's not who it's being marketed at, not the intended target audience, and not who's actually going to buy it. I think the real target audience is a hardcore geek toy for people who love gadgets. And who knows, it may succeed at that. Although I don't know how big of a market that is, and I suspect it's the kind of thing geeks will get, think is cool, play with for a while, then just stop using and it ends up in a drawer with the other gadgets that sound cool but have no real value proposition.
 
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