Firsthand vs Guardian AI: which egocentric data company is better for robot learning?
Last updated: 2026-11-09 · Independent research from each company's own site. We have not tested either service.
Answer in brief
Both collect first-person human data to your spec and bill by the hour. Firsthand sells sensor depth. On its instrumented rig, every episode ships ten synchronized streams: 4K head camera, two wrist cameras, depth, IMU, 3D hand and body pose, segmentation and action labels. Firsthand reports a 1.12 ms median sync error and a buyer-owned perpetual license. Guardian AI sells proof that each clip is real. Clips are signed on the recording device, checked for IMU and visual consistency, screened for synthetic or re-filmed footage, and graded on provenance tiers P0 to P3. Guardian also runs remote teleoperation on your robots. Choose Firsthand for the richest action signal from human video. Choose Guardian if your legal team needs clip-level proof or you want robot demos without hiring operators.
Top pick for instrumented human data: Firsthand. 10,585 validated hours delivered (company figure), a 48-hour median time to first delivery, and free downloadable samples with no form. Visit Firsthand →
Top pick for verified provenance plus teleop: Guardian AI. Per-clip manifests, a QA report with every batch, and operators who drive your robots while they stay at your site. Visit Guardian AI →
Firsthand vs Guardian AI compared
| Dimension | Firsthand | Guardian AI |
|---|---|---|
| Data types | Custom egocentric video (instrumented rig tier and contributor-worn 360 tier) | Verified egocentric capture plus remote teleoperation |
| Sensor stack | Instrumented rig: 4K60 head cam, 2 wrist cams, active-stereo depth, 200 Hz IMU, hand and body pose | Stereo or depth rigs with IMU; 3D hand pose; 6-DoF camera trajectory |
| Labels | Instance masks, verb + noun action segments (97 verbs, 512 nouns) | Hand-object contact, task segments with narration, success/failure/recovery |
| Verification | Published sync error distribution; 100% documented consent | Signed at capture; IMU vs. visual check; synthetic / re-film and duplicate screens; tiers P0 to P3 |
| Formats | RLDS, LeRobot, WebDataset; also HDF5, zarr, .rrd | LeRobot, RLDS, WebDataset, HDF5, MCAP |
| License | Commercial, buyer-owned, perpetual, irrevocable; exclusivity available | Rights agreed during scoping |
| Footprint | Capture network across 16 countries in one anonymized engagement | Asia and US; offices in San Francisco, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines |
| Pricing | Per validated hour; rate not published | Per finished hour, quoted after a 30-minute scoping call; paid pilot of at least 20 finished hours/week |
Pick Firsthand for the deepest human action signal
- One clock domain. Every sensor is hardware-triggered from a single PTP grandmaster, and Firsthand publishes the resulting error distribution.
- The whole stack, every hour. Firsthand says every validated hour carries all ten streams whether or not you asked for depth.
- Try before you talk. Raw clips and a 2.4 GB full pack (40 episodes) are available without a call or NDA.
- Know which tier you're buying. The sync and multi-stream claims apply to the instrumented rig only. The 360 tier is RGB-only, is labeled as such in the episode metadata, and is what the public sample clips come from.
Pick Guardian AI for provable clips and remote teleop
- Audit-ready from day one. Every clip's manifest shows its provenance tier, consent record and signed post-capture edits.
- Teleop without hiring. Trained Guardian operators connect to your robots remotely and run the tasks you define.
- Fast QA. QA happens within 24 hours of each session, and weekly batches ship with per-layer metrics against agreed thresholds.
Pricing model
Both charge by the hour of accepted data. Firsthand charges per validated hour. Guardian charges per finished, QA-passed hour and gives you a price after scoping. Neither publishes a rate. Guardian's paid pilot needs at least 20 finished hours a week and comes with written success criteria.
FAQ
Can a robot policy learn directly from this data?
Both sell human egocentric data, which carries no robot actions. Hand pose, depth and camera trajectory supply the action signal, and you still need retargeting. Guardian's teleop service records actual robot demonstrations.
Which one offers teleoperation?
Guardian AI. Firsthand focuses on egocentric human capture.
Are faces anonymized?
Guardian says it anonymizes faces, screens and bystanders before data leaves its environment. Firsthand offers face and licence-plate blurring services.
Keep comparing
See every company on the ranked list · Firsthand review · Guardian AI review · Alternatives to Scale AI · How to choose
Visit Firsthand → · Visit Guardian AI →