Will AI hardware prove to be anything more than novelty?

Ben Schoon | Apr 7 2024 - 9:00 am PT

The past year has seen an explosion of AI tools and software, but over the next couple of months, we’re also going to be seeing a lot more AI hardware. Personally, though, I’m just wondering if any of it will become anything more than novelty.

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AI isn’t something that typically requires dedicated hardware. Some of the most useful ways to take advantage of generative AI is simply with an app or website on your smartphone. But that’s just based on what we’ve seen so far. Looking past that, companies that are creating their own AI products have more possibilities since they can build more advanced experiences than they can on existing smartphone operating systems.

In the next couple of months, we’re looking forward to the launch of three of those AI hardware products. The first one was announced in 2023, the Humane AI Pin.

This device sits on your shirt or jacket and uses a camera and microphone to observe and answer questions using AI services and its own Android-based platform. Beyond just voice commands, another way users interact with it is with a laser projector on the front that shines onto your hand and recognizes movement and gestures to interact with the software.

It’s a wild idea, and one I got to check out in person back at MWC 2024. Prior to that, I was very skeptical of Humane’s promises, but I was rather impressed in person. Not only was the hardware’s fit and finish and the projector’s brightness way better than I expected, the ideas pitched were actually useful. Contrary to my initial worries, Humane explained that this device wasn’t just piping content from ChatGPT and others. You’d get brief, useful responses generated with a multimodal AI based on your questions and the camera.

Beyond that, there’s the Rabbit R1, a compact device with a display, camera, and some mics and speakers. This is a way simpler, pocketable device that does a lot of the same things. You can ask it questions and it can use that and the camera to generate replies. But, beyond that, the product very much relies on “LAMs,” large action models, to actually do things for you. Rabbit makes big claims here, with the LAMs potentially able to do thing as advanced as booking a rideshare, but the product isn’t available just yet, so we don’t really know what it can and cannot do.

Then, there’s The Frame by Brilliant Labs. This pair of smart glasses integrates AI with what is effectively a heads-up display. Like the AI Pin, the idea is very much to ask questions and have that, combined with an on-device camera, generate helpful responses. Unlike Humane and Rabbit, though, this device just pairs to your phone to keep connected, where the other two operate on LTE connections.

In a quick demo over a video call last month, I got to see the device in action and, while I think the teasers have exaggerated what that display will be capable of, the functionality at least seems to be on par with these other devices.

But, all the while, I just can’t stop wondering if these devices will actually prove useful in the long run. And, more specifically, if they’ll actually prove useful beyond the smartphones we’re all already, and will continue to be carrying.

Personally, I think The Frame is the one that’s got the most potential there. It’s not trying to replace your phone and it’s pretty “in the background” in terms of use. It just sits there, on your face, ready to interact, and can show its information without disrupting what you’re doing. The Humane AI Pin is close to this, but I think the projector, while wildly cool, is too clunky in terms of the actual interaction. The Rabbit R1, meanwhile, just misses the point entirely in my mind by just being too similar to a regular phone.

And then there’s also pricing. Humane AI Pin is crazy expensive at $800 plus the monthly subscription. Rabbit R1 is in impulse-buy territory at $200, and The Frame splits the difference at $350. Humane is the only one that really needs to prove what its device is truly capable of and why it’s not just a fun gadget.

But, even with the prices in the equation, I still struggle to understand why AI hardware products like this even exist. They’re not doing anything fundamentally new, they’re just doing them in a new way. YouTuber Dave2D really nailed it in a recent video on the topic which you should definitely check out.

I think that, when the dust eventually settles, there will be ideas out of these devices that make their way into AI hardware that later makes sense alongside a smartphone. But, for now? I’m skeptical, to say the least.

Humane AI Pin, Rabbit R1, and Frame all (probably) ship this month – AI Pin is starting to ship next week – though it’s worth noting that AI Pin and R1 were both originally scheduled for March. I’m sure it’s fine.

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