Is Vision Pro the "luxurious past" and R1 the "minimalist future"?

At the beginning of the new year, the pace of technology product releases has been unusually fast. Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset has already started pre-orders, and Samsung Electronics has also released the next generation of Galaxy S series smartphones, attracting most of the market's attention. While many tech giants are vying for the lead, a small startup's AI hardware has stood out and caused a sensation at the annual global consumer electronics event CES.

This is the handheld AI hardware "Rabbit R1" (R1) recently launched by the startup company Rabbit. With its sleek design, built-in artificial intelligence model, and extremely low pricing, R1 quickly gained popularity and sold over 10,000 units in just one day, with the first batch of devices sold out.

If we only look at the design, R1 seems to be on par with Apple's heavyweight product Vision Pro in recent years, if not even better. R1 is smaller in size, with a simpler interface and a more futuristic design, some even see it as a new direction for personal intelligent devices.

For example, TechCrunch wrote in its latest article:

Vision Pro looks like an overly fancy and bulky old-tech product disguised as the future of technology, while R1 has a minimalist design and satisfactory cost-effectiveness. I believe this better represents the needs of future generations for technology products.

Vision Pro's user interface is too complex, while R1 strives to achieve a completely user interface-free experience.

Another example is Microsoft CEO Nadella, who recently said in a media interview at the Davos Forum that R1 represents a trend in the future of artificial intelligence, where the operating system of an agent center will handle all user interactions.

"I think the Rabbit operating system and device demo are fantastic. I have to say that this may be one of the most impressive presentations I have seen since Steve Jobs released the iPhone."

"I believe that the way we interact with computers in the future will be done through an agent. This agent will exist on your device and become the bridge connecting us to digital products, defining the mainstream form of the next generation of AI systems."

R1, Something Different

Rabbit R1 has a palm-sized bright orange square appearance, weighing about 115 grams. In today's world of consumer electronics products that are getting bigger and heavier, it is truly a breath of fresh air.

The user interface design of R1 is intuitive and simple. The operating system, rabbitOS, has powerful personalized service functions. It can independently handle various service access and operation controls according to user needs. Users do not need to go through complicated settings or logins, nor do they need to switch between different applications.

The compact and concise design does not mean that R1 has made significant compromises in terms of functionality.

In addition to making phone calls, R1 can perform most of the functions that a smartphone can do. Its embedded LAM model allows users to communicate with R1 through voice conversations.

Therefore, various needs such as playing music, booking flights, providing travel routes, calling for a ride, ordering food, and real-time translation can all be satisfied.

In terms of pricing, this AI hardware is enough to make major tech giants sweat.

The price of R1 is $199 (approximately 1421 yuan), and there is no need for a subscription. In comparison, Humane's AI pin has a starting price of $699 and requires a monthly subscription fee of $24.

In addition, Vision Pro, which Cook sees as a revolutionary product in spatial computing, has a starting price of $3499, with repair fees reaching up to $2399.

Vision Pro and R1, who is the future of AI hardware?

Can we say that Vision Pro is the past of technological product design, while R1 is the future?

Although R1 and other AI hardware products that have just entered the market still have many issues that need improvement, generative AI has been widely accepted by consumers, just like the iPhone revolutionized the smartphone market. Many non-tech professionals are already using AI models like ChatGPT for their work.

In comparison, the number of people in non-tech industries who have had contact with VR headsets can be almost negligible. Even after ten years of development, VR/AR headsets have not gained widespread recognition among ordinary users, as Apple launches Vision Pro.

TechCrunch wrote:

When people fell in love with phones and started to love smartphones, Apple created the iPhone. When people have already fallen in love with artificial intelligence, Rabbit launched R1, and large-scale language models like ChatGPT also emerged.

I believe that companies like Rabbit are looking for more realistic and feasible solutions for the future of (AI) computing, rather than some so-called next major inventions that old-fashioned companies have tried but failed to achieve.