How Good is the Rabbit R1 Handheld AI Assistant?

It's another speech-recognizing, AI-powered handheld device "about half the size of a phone," writes CNET. (Though the $199 device comes with a keyboard and a tiny 2.8-inch screen.) "The Rabbit R1 can identify items in its environment. Point it at a plant, and it can tell you what kind it is. Aim it at your lunch, and it can tell you what's in it.

"it also feels a bit like a novelty so far...." It can call an Uber, order dinner from Doordash, translate conversations, record voice memos, play songs from Spotify and more. Your phone can already do all of those things, but [CEO and founder Jesse] Lyu is promoting the Rabbit R1 as a faster and more natural way to do so... So far, the Rabbit R1 feels fun, fresh and interesting, but also frustrating at times. It intrigues me, but it also hasn't convinced me yet that there's room for another gadget in my life.... Many of the things it can do today feel smartphone-esque, like asking for the weather or playing songs on Spotify...

Visual search is the most interesting feature so far... It's pretty accurate for the most part so far. When I pointed it at my salad during lunch, it was able to tell me most of the ingredients. That's not what I asked. After all, who orders a dish without knowing what's in it? I asked the Rabbit R1 to tell me how many calories were in my lunch. While it couldn't provide the answer I wanted, I was impressed with its response... Overall, Rabbit R1's visual analysis worked pretty well for identifying things like plants and characters from pop culture. When describing my colleague's sneakers, the Rabbit R1 got the brand wrong...

So far, I've used the Rabbit R1 to take voice memos, translate speech from Spanish to English, and answer basic questions about things like weather forecasts. These features work as expected for the most part.
The article points out that Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses "also have multimodal AI, meaning the eyewear can 'see' what you see and tell you about it," and "you can already do something like this on your phone through Google's Gemini assistant on Android phones (or the Gemini section of the Google app for the iPhone).

"It's also very reminiscent of Google Lens, which has been around for years..."

Why is this a device instead of an app?

[ShanghaiBill]

It's a camera, a tiny keyboard, and some software.

So why is it a separate device rather than a smartphone app?

My phone already has a camera and a touchpad keyboard, and it can run any software. Duplicating all that hardware and charging $199 doesn't make much sense.

Re:

[cascadingstylesheet]

It's a camera, a tiny keyboard, and some software.

So why is it a separate device rather than a smartphone app?

My phone already has a camera and a touchpad keyboard, and it can run any software. Duplicating all that hardware and charging $199 doesn't make much sense.

I feel that way about most form factors. A "smart watch"? "Smart glasses"? They are all just mini portable computers.

Granted, if we must give them to kids, it would be nice if they made ones that didn't have cameras and microphones ...

Re:

[Junta]

A smartwatch, well, it doesn't need to go into and come out of pocketsw you just move your hand and you can see it. It can continually monitor some health metrics by vitue of continual skin contact. It can verify continuity of beng on wrist as a means to "lock on removal". Smart glasses can provide a much larger apparent display while being used uterly hands free, again without having to thnk about putting it away and putting it back.

This device is a handheld, just like a smartphone. Hardware wise it is

Re:

[TheNameOfNick]

Duplicating all that hardware and charging $199 doesn't make much sense.

Charging $199 doesn't make much sense? Do you not like money?

Re:

[Jeremi]

Charging $199 doesn't make much sense? Do you not like money?

It doesn't make sense to pay $199 for another set of hardware that does the same things as the hardware you already paid for and carry around with you.

I hope that clarified things.

Re:

[gweihir]

It's a camera, a tiny keyboard, and some software.

So why is it a separate device rather than a smartphone app?

Simple: This is for people that do not understand "app" and for assholes that want to parade these around to show how "hip" they are.

Re:

[christoban]

"Your phone can already do all of those things, but Lyu is promoting the Rabbit R1 as a faster and more natural way to do so."

Maybe an app would get lost in the sea of apps.

Maybe they don't want to give 30% to Apple.

Or maybe an iPhone's battery or AI capabilities aren't up to snuff, given the large screen. Or other technical limitations.

Maybe they figure the AI hype is enough to get people to buy this, and they make more money with a lot more control.

I definitely won't be buying one for a few years, probab

Re:

[OrangeTide]

I ask the same question about the Humane AI Pin [humane.com]. At least with the AI Pin it does something a phone cannot, be pinned to your shirt. But it's not actually comfortable to wear, oh well.

The problem with apps is they don't make a lot of money any more. You have to charge quite a bit for them as long as the app stores are taking 15% and with something like AI needing fair bit of R&D and backend equipment to keep going. But if it was an exception application/service then perhaps enough people would pay a dec

Re:

[Can'tNot]

The thing with the pin is that it's supposed to replace the phone. You can do voice calls with it and text. It doesn't do these things very well, but it does have a couple advantages over a phone and it makes sense from a devices standpoint. It's not another thing to carry.

The pin, in concept at least, makes more sense than this thing.

Re:

[OrangeTide]

The pin a worse camera than a phone. But a neat idea.

I couldn't quite figured out if the Rabbit R1 is an independent device or if it was tethered to a smartphone like one of those useless watches people were briefly into owning.

Re: Why is this a device instead of an app?

[tiananmen tank man]

Cause people aren't going to pay $200 for an app.

Re:

[The Cat]

Then let us all throw up our hands and surrender. We have reached the pinnacle of human achievement.

Let's see if your goddamn phone can guide us through a world with six billion unemployed hungry people.

Point it at a plant, and it can tell you what kind

[Barny]

You know, I've seen people try this while foraging for mushrooms and herbs. From what I remember, about 1 try in 20 it would say a plant/mushroom was fine to eat when it was poisonous.

I guess this is what happens when we "take all the warning labels off things and let Darwin work his magic."

Re:

[anorak52]

Dunning-Kruger would likely result in the warning labels not being read, or being disregarded.

Re:

[The Cat]

Dunning-Kruger is made-up Internet bullshit.

"Everyone's dumb except me." -- the least self-aware meme in human history. The irony could split atoms.

Re:

[gweihir]

I am sure there is a "warning label" hidden somewhere in the fine print.

Well, people with no actual general intelligence (or no will to use whatever they have) live dangerously. Not that these are a small group. I guess one thing that will kill the current mindless AI hype is lawsuits for crap results like the ones you describe.

Re:

[flyingfsck]

I have never seen print of any kind on a mushroom.

Re:

[gweihir]

Seriously? At least try to be somewhat original in your stupid comments....

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

You should learn where to look for it or get better glasses.

The warnings are usually written in tiny script on one of the gills before they put the mushroom in the woods for picking.

Re:

[fahrbot-bot]

You know, I've seen people try this while foraging for mushrooms and herbs. From what I remember, about 1 try in 20 it would say a plant/mushroom was fine to eat when it was poisonous.

Better odds than on Farscape [wikipedia.org], "Taking the Stone" [fandom.com] (S2:E3):

Molnon: [produces a clump of mushrooms]
"See this? Three lobes gets you high. One gets you dead. Never know which one."

This might be the Uber business model

[Press2ToContinue]

with a very long-term goal. But in this case instead of putting taxis and taxi drivers out of business, even though currently it might only be good for seniors and others who have trouble texting and using a phone, in the future I can imagine a use-case where it continually watches and builds a history, thus providing a context for future searches and other applications on your other devices. I would imagine it could provide:

- personalized health recommendations
- predictive healthcare, behavior
- behavi

Re:

[excelsior_gr]

- Personalized health recommendations to reduce your anxiety about PFAS, pesticides, insecticides and other poisons in your food.
- Predictive healthcare, behavior so that your insurance company can always have an excuse to increase your premiums.
- Behavioral analysis and mental health monitoring for helping you overcome your depression with the hope of someday getting involved in a romantic relationship.
- Notifications and updates that are relevant to the user's current context, so that you can finally l

so not reading the article...

[acroyear]

I'm guessing this is NOT from the sex-toy brand?

Re:

[acroyear]

I mean, "So far, the Rabbit R1 feels fun, fresh and interesting, but also frustrating at times. It intrigues me, but it also hasn't convinced me yet that there's room for another gadget in my life..."

really?

Market research, people

[PPH]

I'm guessing this is NOT from the sex-toy brand?

Same thought crossed my mind (dirty little mind that it is). Who picks a company/product name without doing a quick search to see where and in what context the name might already be in use. Never mind any potential trademark problems.

"Handheld" .... "assistant". Nope. Not going anywhere near that.

learnig mode

[internet-redstar]

Learning mode, which is to be added, is what interests me most.

Re:

[narcc]

Why?

If there's something you want to try, you can do that now. You're not getting anything special for $200, you know.

How good can it be?

[gweihir]

Driven by an artificial idiot, as it is.

Re:

[PsychoSlashDot]

Driven by an artificial idiot, as it is.

Oh, I imagine it'll be quite excellent. For instance when identifying plants it just counts how many fingers they have, and if it's seven or more it's clearly a human being, not a plant, so stop trying to trick it.

Re:

[gweihir]

You think this thing can count? I think you are overestimating its skills....

Challange accepted

[fahrbot-bot]

Point it at a plant, and it can tell you what kind it is.

First test [wikipedia.org] ...

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

That's a plant who's lost its voice.

"AI" Is Always a Scam

[sudonim2]

Let's start with the fact that this "AI" assistant will work about as well as Siri or Alexa. Meaning, not very well at all.

To answer another question posed further up, this isn't an app because it uses a combination of custom chipset to accelerate LLM processing, combined with the fact that the actual purpose of this device is to harvest data to sell. It's not an app so Google and Apple don't get to wet their beaks.