Dedicated AI hardware devices like the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin haven’t caught on yet because they’re little one-trick ponies in a world accustomed to all-rounders like the iPhone.
The Humane AI Pin has a futuristic vibe, but it just doesn’t work very well.
That doesn’t mean these and future companies should pack up and go home. The trick that these AI-focused companies have missed is that augmenting smartphone capabilities with smart hardware — as Amazon’s Ring and Google’s Nest accessories have done — is the way to go.
The rise of artificial intelligence will inevitably force many current technologies and devices to evolve. However, the smartphone is currently at the center of cutting-edge technology, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.
The popularity of smartphones and the devices that augment them is just a reflection of the incredible versatility of a smart, multi-purpose device that can be easily customized to suit your needs. Smartphone challengers, rather than allies, have a very difficult path to success these days.
AI is not about hardware
In recent months, the Humane AI Pin and the recently announced Limitless Pendant have either debuted or been announced as AI wearables. The Rabbit R1 is a pocket-sized toy chatbot with artificial intelligence that aims to replace Google search and a few basic smartphone functions.
Both the Humane pin and the Rabbit R1 have failed to gain any traction in the market – either because they’re overpriced for what they do, or because they can’t do much, or both. Anyone with an iPhone or Apple Watch – or their Android equivalents – is unlikely to be tempted by these initial “hardware” AI devices.
To be fair, a premium smartphone is much more expensive, both upfront and for ongoing services. They also couldn’t do much in their original incarnations compared to what they can do now. However, smart phones represented a potential adaptability.
The Humane AI Pin has some great features, but its growth is hampered by a lack of hardware versatility. Rabbit R1 has the same problem.
While smartphones have taken over many individual device markets, dedicated GPS units still exist, smart home security hardware that works with smartphones is doing well, and smart speakers are also doing well. Devices that embrace and extend the capabilities of a smartphone, rather than just mimicking a handful of features, have found their markets.
One factor that likely doomed the Humane Pin and Rabbit R1 is their strong adoption of AI as a buzzword, although these devices were certainly in development years before the rise of commercial AI applications. The public perception is that these gadgets only exist because of AI, and the knowledge that almost every smart device on the market has raced to add more AI features – giving users little reason to ditch what they know for something else.
A small percentage of consumers may be fine with a wearable AI assistant that can answer basic questions and take a photo or video. A device with a limited purpose like the Humane AI Pin might find its audience if it was designed more as a way to relieve yourself of occasionally leaving your iPhone at home; ironically, this is one of the Apple Watch’s big selling points with cellular data.
The idea of ​​reclaiming one of your pockets into a wearable or handheld AI device with internet access can be tempting. The catch is that you’ll likely have to wait years for current AI wearables to start justifying their existence compared to the utility and convenience of a smartphone.
Current competition
The three main devices trying to replace, and in some cases replace, your smartphone are the Humane AI pin, the pocket-sized Rabbit R1, and the as-yet-unavailable Limitless Pendant, which is slated for August 2024. Both the R1 and the Humane Pin offer a way to ask questions and get some answers using a Wi-Fi or mobile internet connection along with a handful of other features.
The humanoid AI pin generally has the feel of a “Star Trek: The Next Generation” communicator: it magnetically attaches to the back plate under your shirt and you can tap it to communicate. It can speak answers out loud or laser project information into the palm of your hand.
Unfortunately, the projections are difficult to see in daylight, the sound is distracting in public, the battery life is terrible, and reports say the device overheats easily. It costs $700 plus a $24 monthly subscription fee.
The R1 Rabbit may remind some people of wearables like Tamagotchi or Nintendo Playdate games, but in terms of functionality it is similar to the Humane AI pin. The small, lightweight plastic square has a scroll wheel and push-to-talk button, but its handful of functions can just as easily be performed on a smartphone.
It costs $199 and doesn’t require a subscription, but you’ll either have to pay for a 4G LTE data plan — the Rabbit R1 has a SIM card slot — or simply connect it to your smartphone when you’re not on Wi-Fi. – Fi.
While the market yawned at the initially offered R1, a future version could catch on as a smartphone alternative for kids. Protections for its AI and some age-appropriate games could make it a more attractive proposition for a younger target market than getting them their own smartphones.
One of the latest items in nascent AI hardware is the Limitless Pendant, a clip-on or chain-worn device available in several colors that’s about the size and shape of two AirTags in a protective case. This gadget is limited to very few functions, but in a more focused way than the Rabbit or Humane devices.
Limitless’s wearable pendant records audio and creates summaries, notes and transcripts.
The primary purpose of the pendant is to record audio and then create AI-generated summaries, notes, and transcripts to refresh your memory of meetings or other interactions. This can be a very useful and unobtrusive feature, but you need to get the consent of the participants before recording.
This product is interesting because, unlike the other two, it offers convenience based on artificial intelligence, which is not yet built into the iPhone. However, Apple will probably add similar features later this year.
This means the pendant is a much less intrusive way to record meeting audio and create legible transcripts, notes and summaries than pulling out your smartphone. This, along with a reasonable price, increases the likelihood that the Limitless Pendant will find its place among consumers.
It is currently priced at $99 during the pre-order period. There is a free tier limited to 10 hours of recording or an unlimited tier for $19 per month.
“It’s a feature, not a product”
The above quote comes from Steve Jobs himself and accurately predicts the main problem with devices like these. Apple, Microsoft, and Google have also produced single-purpose products, but all are designed to augment each company’s computer and smartphone “hub.”
AirTag is a single-purpose device that builds on Apple’s existing infrastructure.
Apart from laser projection of hard-to-read text on the palm of your hand, the iPhone does almost every other function of these competing devices faster and better. Apple is expected to add a number of AI features to the iPhone in iOS 18, which will be announced at WWDC and will ship in the fall of 2024.
The versatility of even older iPhone models to update the OS and add new features is a huge advantage. In comparison, standalone wearables and handhelds are – at least for now – very limited in the range of “tricks” they can do, even if they do them well.
Users already know and love many of the apps and services included in the iPhone, and can add more from a wide variety of developers. Apple has developed a platform that users can customize and extend as they wish.
It is unlikely that future iterations of the Humane, Rabbit, and Limitless devices—if any—will be able to expand functionality on this scale. Humane has already gone up for sale, a metaphorical if not literal “throw in the towel” moment.
Founded by former Apple engineers, the company began in 2018 with a mission to develop hardware products. After five years with nothing to show for it, the company turned to AI as the engine for its “smart pin,” but then again, that’s true of every other company in Silicon Valley.
Failure of these devices is quite possible that their first generation products will never be updated. They will either be replaced by second-generation hardware or simply orphaned because the market didn’t accept them.
The approach taken by Apple, Google and Microsoft is clearly the better way: introduce and then iterate on existing apps and features that users like to use, possibly with artificial intelligence on a versatile platform. There is no point in trying to reinvent the wheel.
Separate AI hardware adds complexity to users’ lives and, in most cases, additional subscriptions. They are not yet designed to fit seamlessly into the technology you already own and use.
It’s also hard to see how standalone products — even targeted and reasonably attractive wearables like the Limitless Pendant — have much room to grow or evolve as consumer needs evolve.
Of course, smartphones age and need replacement after years of use, but their versatile capabilities mean they appeal to a very broad user base. With little to offer, AI chatbots in wearable form are still too new and niche to break into the mainstream—or achieve much, if any, profitability.
Single-purpose devices can certainly succeed in the technology market – the Amazon Ring, the Kindle e-reader and the Alexa smart speaker are good examples. But the key to their success is that they work with your existing technology and extend it by adding new capabilities.
Of the new AI-driven devices coming to market, it seems that only the Limitless Pendant will be adopted by the target market.