THE Rabbit R1 is not a Rabbid. It would even seem superiorly intelligent if we stick to the demos made by its creator, Jesse Lyu. The founder of the Californian start-up Rabbit, Inc. took advantage of CES in Las Vegas to lift the veil on this future digital companion that runs on AI. 20 minutes takes stock of what we currently know about a small device that promises to be revolutionary.
Much stronger than Alexa, Google Home and SIRI
Taking the form of a small orange box that fits in your pocket, the Rabbit R1 integrates a screen, two microphones, a speaker, and a camera that rotates 360°. Also: a wheel for scrolling on its screen, a USB-C port and a SIM card port. In 4G, it does not need to be paired with a smartphone to work. So it’s connected to cloud that it will benefit from artificial intelligence to support us in many daily tasks.
Large ears open when a button is pressed, the Rabbit waits for vocal requests from its users to execute. Here, the idea is not to ask it, like Alexa, Google Home or SIRI, our zealous and aging assistants, to turn on a connected bulb or what the weather is today. Even if it can start listening to our current music tracks on our platform streaming preferred, R1 is better than that. Much better.
Answer complex queries
For example, you can ask: “Book me a VTC for six people with luggage. Leaving the office for the airport at 6 p.m. In a few seconds, the R1 executes and offers you a car for which you will validate the reservation on the screen.
Another example. By pointing its camera at your open refrigerator, you can ask the device: “Suggest me a recipe with what I have available for a dinner with my son to make in 15 minutes.” Putting its neurons to work, R1 will, once again, execute. It only takes a few seconds to identify the available foods (thanks to the AI!) and find a recipe that you can make in the allotted time.
Even stronger: “I want to go to New York from February 15 to 18 with my wife and son and are looking for an Airbnb with a view of Central Park, and will also need a rental car during this period.” After a few moments of reflection, the Rabbit R1 will offer you several options from which you will choose the ones that suit you. Magic !
Down the rabbit hole
The secret of Rabbit Inc.? Artificial intelligence, of course, but also its ability to aggregate and make mobile or computer applications work together which, until now, did not know how to communicate with each other. For this, its founder claims to have trained his clever rabbit on countless models of use.
For the user, all that remains is to configure the beast on a computer before using it. Named The rabbit hole portal (literally, “Rabbit Hole”), this dedicated interface allows you to associate the services you use with your big-eared companion and to give them the access keys. Thus, during a request, the R1 will then automatically go to the service providers with whom we are used to interacting… just like from the screen of our smartphone.
Lots of gray areas
Convincing ? First of all, very exciting. Because as presented, the R1 has everything to really simplify our lives. No need to spend an evening on your Booking, Airbnb, Air France, Avis, etc. applications to prepare and organize a future trip. Nor to rack your brains with Marmiton or Cookidoo (if you have a Thermomix) to find THE recipe to accommodate our leftover food in the fridge in record time. The fact remains that the presentation of the Rabbit R1 by its founder was recorded on video, that the technical sheet of the device has not been communicated (what processor, what resolution for its camera, what autonomy, etc.) and that, for the moment, the promise seems almost too good to be true.
Especially since the Rabbit R1, currently on pre-order, will only be sold for 199 dollars (or 183 euros) and without a monthly subscription. Nothing to do with the one which appears to be its direct competitor and which was unveiled at the end of 2023, the AI Pin from the Humane firm. Offering more or less the same services (although not having a screen), the little companion in the form of a badge to wear on one’s person is sold for 699 dollars (640 euros), plus a subscription of 24 dollars per month (22 euros)!
Sixteen years to the day after the Apple iPhone
While waiting to one day, we hope, be able to test these scientific products (what will we call them, the “AI-ssistants”?), there is no doubt that is emerging today in the heart from Silicon Valley a new generation of small devices which, by taking advantage of the possibilities offered by an increasingly delightful (and worrying) AI, risk disrupting our lives… The Next Big Thing!
Without saying it, Jesse Lyu, the founder of Rabbit, Inc. presented his learned rabbit 16 years to the day after another announcement which was a revolution. On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled a small portable product that would soon turn our lives upside down. The iPhone was born.