I wiped the dust off my Rabbit R1: 5 new things it can do since I last used it

The Rabbit R1 has been collecting dust on my shelf since I grew disappointed with the device not meeting my initial expectations. It’s been two months since I used it. Jesse Lyu, the CEO behind Rabbit R1, overpromised and underdelivered with the Rabbit R1.

Admittedly, some features like Vision, which shows off how the Rabbit R1 can identify objects by “looking” at them before explaining what it “sees,” aren’t half bad. I also loved that it could identify foreign languages, like on a menu for example, and spit it back out in English. (These features are already available on my phone via apps like ChatGPT Plus, however.)

Plus, some of the marquee features, like ordering Uber and DoorDash via Rabbit R1, or invoking the AI to launch a Spotify song, did not work well.

And not to mention that Rabbit R1 has been suffering from a critical security flaw, according to the The Verge, that further threatened its viability in the market.

Rabbit R1
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

To be fair, this isn’t just a Rabbit R1 issue. This whole “we’ll promise stuff now, but deliver after you give us money” tactic has been running rampant across the tech world. But the likes of the Rabbit R1 and the Humane Ai Pin, which is reportedly suffering from more returns than it can can sell, shows how this strategy can backfire.

But Rabbit hasn’t given up yet. In a press email to Mashable, Rabbit said that it has issued extensive updates to the R1 device, goading me to give it a try. The team warned that these new features, dubbed “beta rabbit mode,” are still rough around the edges, but that I should experiment with them. So I did.

‘Beta rabbit mode’ on Rabbit R1: What is it?

According to Rabbit, beta mode enhances R1’s capabilities with more thoughtful, comprehensive responses to complex questions that require deep reasoning and multi-step research. It can also be used with Vision. In other words, based on what Rabbit R1 is looking at via the camera, it should be able to deliver advanced responses to questions.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Beta rabbit supposedly makes Rabbit R1 more conversational and intelligent.

I put ‘beta rabbit mode’ to the test

To access beta rabbit mode, all I needed to do was say, “beta rabbit.” Just as I was about to give this beta rabbit mode a bash, an update suddenly occurred, preventing me from using the device for about three minutes.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

And it must be connected to a USB-C charging cable to successfully complete the update. It took about 30 long minutes from start to finish due to Wi-Fi connectivity issues (that weren’t on my end).

Rabbit gave me the following commands for testing beta rabbit mode:

1. “Beta rabbit, can you suggest three books similar to The Power of Now? Include page length, year of release, and ratings. And save that as a note titled ‘Reading list.’ Also, include pictures of the authors.” To show contextual capability, Rabbit suggested following up with, “Beta Rabbit, can you also get me summaries for those three books?”

2. “Beta Rabbit, can you give me a two-day itinerary for San Francisco? I want to go to one historical site, a museum, eat Japanese food, and try a cocktail bar. Can you also give me photos of each location?

3. Beta Rabbit, can you find me the best deals for the Dyson V8 vacuum? I want to get the cheapest price and the purchase links.

4. Point at the nutrition chart of a Japanese snack, or any snack in a foreign language, and ask, “Beta Rabbit, what are the nutritional facts for this snack? Is it healthy?”

I tweaked these a bit so that it suited my personal life. For example, for number one, I asked for film recommendations in lieu of book suggestions. (Plus, I don’t want to follow a Rabbit-curated list; I want to challenge it.)

For number two, I swapped San Francisco for Greece because I’m headed there in two months. For three, I’m in the market for the Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer, so I plugged that in. And lastly, I don’t have a Japanese snack, but I do have a cup of Ramen Noodles, so i’ll ask “beta rabbit” how healthy it is.

1. Film and book recommendations

Initially, when I tested beta rabbit mode on Aug. 8, it worked well.

Rabbit R1 populates film recommendations for similar movies to “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

I asked, “Beta Rabbit, can you suggest three films similar to The Wolf of Wall Street? Include movie length, year of release, and ratings. Also, include pictures of the directors.” It suggested The Big Short, American Hustle, and The Social Network, alongside the requested information. Since my two-month break from the Rabbit R1, one thing that caught my eye is that the device finally supports pictures in its response, delivering photos of each director as requested.

I also followed Rabbit’s suggestion to ask for book recommendations. I said, ” Beta Rabbit, can you suggest three books similar to Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. Include page length, year of release, and ratings. Include pictures of the authors, too.” Again, it surfaced exactly what I asked for, including The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, with pictures in tow.

Rabbit R1 showing book recommendations
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

However, a week later, I retested these queries and discovered that the photo-filled responses have been replaced with a rough, rudimentary, raw reply, with some backend coding exposed. I no longer saw photos.

As of Aug. 22, however, the Rabbit R1 is back in working order after a final retest. (In Rabbit’s defense, it’s a beta mode.)

2. Travel itinerary

I plan on visiting Greece later this year, so I asked the Rabbit R1 to curate a travel plan for me: “Beta Rabbit, can you give me a two-day itinerary for Athens? I want to go to the nearest beach, a historical site, eat greek food from a highly rated restaurant, and go to the best rooftop bar. Also, can you give me photos of each location?”‘

A Rabbit R1-curated travel itinerary for greece
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

To my surprise, the Rabbit R1 actually put together a useful Athens-based itinerary. Now, I’ll have to actually check out Rabbit R1’s suggested places to determine if the AI device can double as a beneficial travel assistant. But based on what Rabbit R1 has produced, I could see myself using it for moments when I just don’t have the time to do the research to put together a fleshed out itinerary.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The only downside is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to retrieve a history of responses on the actual Rabbit R1 device, so you’d have to be careful not to accidentally press a button that makes the two-day itinerary disappear from the screen.

3. Deals hunting

As mentioned, I’m in the market for a new air fryer (i.e., the Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer).

Rabbit R1 goes hunting for the best air fryer deal
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable