Dedicated AI hardware devices like the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin have so far failed to gain traction in the market, as they are few gimmicks in a world accustomed to versatile workhorses like the iPhone.
The Humane AI Pin has a futuristic look, but it just doesn’t work very well.
This is not to say that these and future companies should pack it up and go home. The trick these AI-focused companies have missed is that boosting the capabilities of smartphones with smart hardware – as Google’s Ring and Google accessories have done – is the way to go.
The rise of AI will inevitably force many current technologies and devices to evolve. Right now, though, the smartphone is the center of cutting-edge technology and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.
The popularity of smartphones and devices that extend them is just a reflection of the incredible versatility of a smart, multifunctional device that can easily be adapted to your needs. Challengers, rather than allies, of the smartphone currently have a very difficult path to success.
AI is not about hardware
In recent months, the Humane AI Pin and the recently announced Limitless Hanger have been introduced or announced as AI wearables. The Rabbit R1 is a wearable toy-like AI chatbot that aims to replace Google search and some basic smartphone functions.
Both the Humane pin and the Rabbit R1 have failed to gain any traction in the market – either because they are too expensive for what they do, or because they don’t do much, or both. Anyone with an iPhone or Apple Watch – or their Android equivalents – is unlikely to be tempted by these initial ‘AI hardware’ devices.
To be fair, a premium smartphone is much more expensive, both upfront and for ongoing service. In their original incarnations they couldn’t do much compared to what they can do now. However, smartphones represented the potential for adaptability.
The Humane AI Pin has some great features, but its growth has been hampered by a lack of hardware versatility. The Rabbit R1 has the same problem.
Although smartphones have taken over some single-device markets, dedicated GPS units still exist, smart home security hardware that works with smartphones does a fine job, and smart speakers do a good job too. Devices that embrace and expand the capabilities of smartphones, rather than just mimic a handful of features, have found their market.
One of the factors that likely doomed the Humane Pin and the Rabbit R1 is their strong embrace of AI as a buzzword, even though the devices were certainly in the development years before the rise of commercial applications of AI. The public perception is that these gadgets only exist because of AI, and the knowledge that almost every smart device on the market is rushing to add more AI features – giving users little reason to trade what they know for anything otherwise.
For a small percentage of consumers, a wearable AI assistant that can answer basic questions and take a photo or record could suit their needs well. Limited-purpose devices like the Humane AI Pin might have found their audience if it were intended more as a way to lighten the burden of leaving your iPhone at home sometimes; Ironically, this is one of the big selling points of the mobile Apple Watch.
The idea of reclaiming one of your pockets for a wearable or portable AI device with internet access can be tempting. The catch is that you’ll probably have to wait years before today’s AI wearables can justify their existence compared to the usefulness and convenience of a smartphone.
The current competition
The three main devices that aim to replace, and in some cases replace, your smartphone are the Humane AI Pin, the Rabbit R1 pocketable, and the not-yet-available Limitless Hanger, which is scheduled for an August 2024 debut. Both the R1 and Humane Pin offer a way to ask questions and get answers by piggybacking on a Wi-Fi or mobile Internet connection, along with a handful of other features.
The Humane AI pin generally goes for that “Star Trek: The Next Generation” communicator feel: it magnetically attaches to a backplate under your shirt and you tap it to communicate. It can speak answers out loud or project information onto the palm of your hand.
Unfortunately, the projections are difficult to see in daylight, the audio is distracting in public, the battery life is terrible, and reports say the device overheats easily. It costs $700, plus a $24 monthly subscription.
The R1 Rabbit may remind some people of a non-portable device like the Tamagotchi games or a Nintendo Playdate, but it is similar in functionality to the Humane AI Pin. The small, lightweight plastic square has a scroll wheel and a “push to talk” button, but its handful of functions are just as easy to perform on a smartphone.
It costs $199 and doesn’t require a subscription, but you’ll have to pay for a 4G LTE data plan – the Rabbit R1 has a SIM card slot – or you can just pop it on your smartphone if you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection. -Fi.
While the market has gaped at the R1 as it was initially offered, a future version could catch on as a smartphone alternative for kids. Age-appropriate safeguards for the AI and some games could make it a more attractive proposition for a younger demographic than buying their own smartphones.
One of the newest entries in the emerging AI hardware landscape is the Limitless Hanger, a clip-on or tethered device that comes in multiple colors and is about the size and shape of two AirTags in a protective case. This gadget limits itself to very few functions, but in a more focused way than the Rabbit or Humane devices.
Limitless’ wearable records audio to create summaries, notes and transcriptions.
The Hanger’s primary purpose is to record audio and then produce AI-generated summaries, notes, and transcripts so you can refresh your memory of meetings or other interactions. This can be a very useful and unobtrusive feature, but you must obtain permission from participants before recording.
The product is interesting because, unlike the other two, this one offers an AI-based convenience that isn’t yet built into the iPhone. Similar features will likely be added by Apple later this year.
That said, the Pendant is a much less intrusive way to record meeting audio and produce readable transcripts, notes and summaries than a smartphone. This, along with the reasonable price, means the Limitless Hanger is likely to find its niche with consumers.
During the pre-order period, it currently costs $99. 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 none other than Steve Jobs himself, who accurately predicts the biggest problem with these types of devices. While Apple, Microsoft and Google have also created single-purpose products, they are all designed to expand each company’s “hub” of computers and smartphones.
The AirTag is a single-purpose device that plugs into existing Apple infrastructure.
Aside from laser-projecting hard-to-read text onto the palm of your hand, an iPhone can perform almost all the other functions of these competing devices faster and better. Apple is expected to add numerous AI features to the iPhone in iOS 18, which will be announced at WWDC and released in fall 2024.
The versatility of even older iPhone models to update the operating system and add new functionality is a huge advantage. By comparison, standalone wearables and pocketables are – at least for now – very limited in the range of “tricks” they can perform, even if they do them well.
Users already know and love many of an iPhone’s apps and services, and can add more from a wide variety of developers. Apple has developed a platform that users can customize and expand as they see fit.
It’s unlikely that future versions of the Humane, Rabbit and Limitless devices – if any – will be able to expand functionality at that scale. Humane has already put itself up for sale, a metaphorical if not literal “throw in the towel” moment.
The company, founded by ex-Apple engineers, started in 2018 with a mission to develop hardware products. After five years without anything to show for it, the company switched to AI to power its “smart PIN,” but so does every other Silicon Valley company.
The failure of these devices makes it entirely possible that their first generation products will never be updated at all. They will either be replaced by second-generation hardware or simply be orphaned because the market didn’t embrace them.
The approach Apple, Google and Microsoft have taken is clearly the better way: introducing and then iterating on existing apps and features that users love, with AI where necessary, on a versatile platform. There’s no point in trying to reinvent the wheel.
Standalone AI hardware adds complexity to users’ lives, and in most cases, a subscription on top of that. Until now, they haven’t been designed to fit seamlessly with the technology you already own and use.
It’s also hard to see how standalone products – even a focused and reasonably attractive wearable product like the Limitless Hanger – have left themselves much room to grow or evolve as consumer needs evolve.
Smartphones obviously age and need to be replaced after years of use, but their versatile capabilities mean they will appeal to a very wide group of users. AI chatbots in a portable form, with little else to offer, are still too new and specialized to penetrate the mainstream – or achieve much, if any, profitability.
Single-use devices can certainly find success in the technology market: Amazon’s Ring doorbell, Kindle e-reader, and Alexa smart speaker are good examples. That said, the key to their success is that they work with your existing technology and extend it by adding new capabilities.
Of the new AI-powered devices hitting the market, only the Limitless Hanger seems poised to be embraced by its target audience.