Rabbit released their R1 device at CES 2024. A device designed to eliminate the unnecessary steps it takes to do tasks. The R1 uses AI running a Large Action Model (LAM) to handle requests directly on the device. Think of this as a personal assistant who can do all tasks for you, and all you need to do is confirm the action.
The rise in Artificial Intelligence has seen a lot of improvements in providing accurate responses and genuinely being more helpful to the user. The current AI solutions have been more focused on applications and websites, as seen with ChatGPT, or strong integrations with other software such as co-pilot. R1 brings this technology to a physical hardware device much like a phone but completely different.
Given everything these days is an application that can be downloaded from the app store, navigating away from reliance on mobile devices could be the next move to eliminate distractions. The R1 was designed to work as a companion and reduce the need to navigate through all the steps of doing simple tasks. Rabbit designed R1 to handle all the mundane tasks and provide you with a streamlined response, asking for your input.
Rabbit's CEO, Jesse Lyu, gave a very interesting demo of the product in usage, from being able to book an Uber to a specific location and provide any customizations needed in a single step. A voice prompt is made, and using the device's Large Action Model, it can compute and give a final action for confirmation.
The device itself has a very striking bold orange design on the hardware. The device is expected to retail at USD 199. Rabbit OS, the software behind the device, comes across as very retro, and it fits well into the theme of being the first iteration of a new piece of technology.
Designed to be a companion to your phone, the R1 is designed to connect with apps via a dedicated application.
A potential risk of having everything connected is that there is a single entry point for hijacking accounts. Security is a big concern for AI in general; the common questions are: where does the information go, and is it secured?
R1 has mentioned that the login process will be handled by the native third-party login system, meaning all logins are handled by their respective clients and not maintained on the device itself. Rabbit OS was designed with privacy and security in mind, so we're hoping that the level of security is relatively high and that data remains secure when communicating with third-party applications.
Interesting features showcased during the talk include the usage of computer vision. As this device has a physical camera, the AI is able to use the context of the space around it and complete tasks based on it. A very well-constructed demo showcased a possible scenario where the device was used to scan the contents of the fridge and come up with some recipes.
While it's amazing to see how AI will integrate with computer vision and be capable of doing a lot more, it may seem unrealistic without further context or processing to fully understand.
Watch the keynote to learn more about the R1:
A good point of this is how context-aware the device could be. The demo mentioned a prompt to the R1 stating, "Tell everyone I'm going to be late." Where the usage of "everyone" comes into play here is in what context does the device know who everyone is without providing a list or a group of people relevant to the context. It will be interesting to see how this develops over time.
Specs
- Dimensions: 78mm78mm13mm / 3in3in0.5in
- Weight: 115g
- Battery: 1000mAh
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 / Wi-Fi with 2.4GHz + 5GHz / 4G LTE
- Speaker / Dual Microphone array
- Display: 2.88in TFT Touchscreen
- Processor: MediaTek MT6765 Octa-core (Helio P35)
- CPU: 2.3GHz
- Memory: 4GB
- Storage: 128GB
- Connector: USB-C
- Camera: 8MP Photo, 1080p 24FPS Video
- Includes: magnetometer, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope
Rabbit is new, and we are interested in seeing what else they will do with Rabbit OS and R1. If they can continue to adhere to best practices in privacy and security, this could be a potential game-changer. Other notes on this device we don't yet know about are additional costs introduced with this, subscriptions, or extra fees to unlock certain features; time will tell.
If you would like to learn more about Rabbit as a company and what they do, check out their website and learn what else is on offer for the devices, including upcoming features and things they're working on, including features being introduced with their Large Action Model.
While this device is up for pre-order, if you are interested in playing around with AI and seeing the capabilities for free, check out ChatGPT, Bard, or Try CoPilot on Windows.
These models are free, with more advanced features locked away for paying customers. Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, so be mindful of what you share, as these aren't yet private.
