> Points at sign saying New York Stock Exchange, "what's this", "it's the NYSE"
These are impressive in that we did not have software that could do these sorts of things a few years ago, but they are functionally useless examples. People do not do this beyond writing tech reviews or a tech demo for a friend.
I'd really like to see useful demonstrations, of things that I actually want to know. For example I saw a tower on the horizon ~15 miles away and wanted to know what tower it was, I pointed my phone at it and zoomed in extremely far, and asked Google Lens, and it gave me the wikipedia page. This is materially better in two ways: first I can zoom in past all the other towers in my field of view, and second I get the wikipedia page, on a screen, I don't know what information I need about it, it sort of depends on what it is, and that page is a good place to go for that.
What other demos do we have for these devices (R1, AI Pin) of real world scenarios? So far the reporting is lacking on these, and where they have been demoed (e.g. AI Pin translation) it has been with poor results.
I disagree.
Here's a thing I'd like to do that I can't do today:
I go out for a 15 minute walk. I turn my device on. When I get back, I have a text file about my walk annotated with what I saw, landmarks, weather, perhaps an unusual car, and what I bought at the coffeeshop, all taken from the camera alone.
That's useful, doesn't exist now, but could exist in the future, using technology like this.
I think there are some very interesting accessibility use-cases here, but that's not how the tech is being pitched.
I don't disagree that knowing the breed might be nice, but again I feel like it lacks a real-world use-case. How many dogs do I see in day to day life that are unaccompanied? None.
That's a lot of hardware and compute just to have a gadget that helps identify dog breeds, assuming the dog is purebred to begin with.
"Can I eat this?"
Pic of random foliage > is this safe to eat
Google lens has been doing this for ages.
https://youtu.be/W2pYTRdX5LA?si=giLseweTP0zWf-M-
I’m sure more stuff will drop throughout the day but in case folks wanted to see a hands on.
Right now I don’t see it doing anything I can’t do from my phone already.
I’m very unclear on why these (rabbit and humane) aren’t just apps. I just don’t see people carrying these in addition to their phones and dealing with the split interaction ecosystem.
I also don’t understand why neither made their products into a watch form factor. That at least solves the majority of their issue of “having it on you in a convenient way”
Also as an aside, while I think the teenage engineering design is gorgeous, I’m disappointed that the packaging is so plastic heavy. A plastic cartridge like case wrapped in plastic. Neither of which will be used again.
That's the one thing that seemed really clear to me. People's phones are too locked down so these can't be apps, you'd either hit Apple restrictions right away, or would inevitably hit them as you developed further. (The first time you, for example, wanted to always listen transparently for a wake word the way an iPhone or HomePod does for Siri, and Apple blocked you for it. Or the first time you wanted to show your UI while the screen is locked, Apple is allowed do do this for Maps, but you definitely aren't allowed to in your own app).
At this point, if you want to do anything big on mobile, you have to also re-invent (or copy a pre-OEM android) smartphone, just for the chance to try it out. Just like Rabbit does here.
They’re all push to talk. They could literally be an app that you launch from the shortcut button and provide the same functionality.
Try to get a VC to give you $100M for an app
To start, I think these things are toys and think they are an opportunity to explore one potential use of the tech, probably not the right one.
But… I do understand the vision of having a device that intentionally adds friction to my interaction with digital tools, in theory, with minimal compromise in capability.
the real end game for AI devices is an always on microphone which is impossible on iOS.
"Activate to launch a command" is not very compelling, the real magic comes from some combination of:
- is aware of the environment
- can talk to like a person
- can act on the world
EDIT: Wayback Machine got a snapshot of it: https://web.archive.org/web/20240424095544/https://github.co...
Why would I want a Rabbit if I could get a Rabbit that also connects to my mobile computing device that is engineered for performance?
Still woefully unfinished compared to the marketing/demo hype.
And unable to answer well the question “shouldn’t my phone do this?”
But all in all I’m excited about the many attempts at hardware and interfaces — chat or voice I refuse to believe are “the best” interaction models for agents/llms.
Exactly this.
So much of the functionality of the Humane gadget, and this, overlap directly with a mobile phone. In Humane's case, due to the removal of a screen (and the projector not being a suitable replacement) it was either level (in some cases) with your phone's abilities, or a lot worse in others, and at great cost. This, at least, is cheaper and has a better screen...
Big picture, all these manufacturers seem to be taking advantage of is that neither Android or iOS have baked AI into the system, yet. When (e.g.) Siri becomes the interface for a strong LLM, both gadgets lose any differentiation they ever had and just become immediately irrelevant.
The Meta Ray-Bans have multi-modal AI built in (yes, vision that it can very quickly look and explain you see, is ridiculous how good it is), can interact/notifications with your phone, and is extremely fast and reliable.
They also don't look clunky at all anymore.
I seriously wear them all the time and would never want to carry a Rabbit with me along with my phone.
For vision utility, mostly identification:
- look and tell me info about what is this mushroom while hiking
- asked it to explain facts about the artist of a painting at a museum
- what is this PDF on my computer screen generally about
Other utility is simply discussion. Ask questions while cooking or if you you have a random idea. For example, I used it to see ingredient alternatives while cooking home-made pasta. I also used it to brainstorm related gift ideas for my wife while purchasing a present for my wife.
It also has real-time integration (weather, news, etc.).
Finally, I don't use social media. I have a private Instagram however to post pictures and videos since the footage and auto-stability features is truly next level.
My friends mostly use for documenting their kids lives privately. It makes that Vision Pro ad where the dad is taking photos of the kids with the giant goggles a hilarious joke.
Edit: Probably the only reason it hasn't taken off is because "Meta". It's probably the best new gadget I've bought in 5+ years.
Even if Rabbit R1 is a scam, it looks like a very good and cheap scam device for a first version that "actually works" and is more polished than Humane's AI pin.
This tells me that Humane's AI Pin performed worse than the Rabbit R1 and Humane is no where near worth >$1BN and after 5 years this is what the result of all of that is.
But so far overall, there is nothing that these devices can do better than a mobile device and an app at this time.
[0] https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2023/6327143/hum...
Nothing about the demo addressed something that I felt was a pressing need. Neat tech concept, but not seeing the market.
