NEO is a new humanoid robot created by the young tech company 1X. It has all the momentum in the world in the incredibly brave, superhero, home automation industry. It’s not surprising that tech giants like Nvidia are giving 1X such big financial support. This support will allow 1X to release a general-purpose version of NEO later this year. This ambitious project aims to revolutionize domestic chores by enabling robots to perform tasks such as folding laundry, loading dishwashers, and cleaning up after meals.
NEO, in the meantime, is learning to improve its abilities using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms. The preferred outcome is that the robot can conduct all on-water operations entirely autonomously, requiring minimal human intervention. These demonstrations have begun to show NEO’s incredible potential. It can brew coffee, crumple socks and even pick up tables laden with wine glasses! NEO had a tough time during a recent public showcase. It had a hard time grasping cabinet knobs when putting away plates and mugs.
1X uses project management techniques developed by the software industry to iterate on NEO’s design and performance. Its creators rely on a combination of remote control and virtual reality headsets to pilot the robot. This configuration gives them the freedom to optimize its performance on the fly. To enhance NEO’s robot interaction skills, 1X has developed a custom robot glove. This development significantly increases NEO’s agility with common household objects.
NEO isn’t purely the stuff of laboratories—it’s already being introduced into homes. Norwegian CEO Bernt Børnich has truly welcomed NEO into his family. He explains that the robot provides truly helpful support by completing tasks independently and under human observation. “We’re trying to get the right balance where automation triggers an intervention by a human,” Børnich commented.
“We have a lot of data so a lot of the stuff in my home can get automated but periodically someone kind of steps in and helps.” – Bernt Børnich
The global market for humanoid robots is exploding—especially in China. The government has issued warnings regarding a potential bubble in this sector, as more companies vie for dominance in the field. Sunday AI’s Memo is shaking things up as a home-based robot. From pouring the perfect pint to carrying five wine glasses at a time, these machines offer an amazing variety of capabilities. Moreover, Burgoon’s company, Weave Robotics, has developed robots like Isaacs tailored to folding clothes in Laundromats.
Elon Musk has been vocal about his belief that the future belongs to humanoid robots, going so far as to claim a $1 trillion market potential. As Musk explained, consumer dreams are changing.
“Today people have two aspirations – a car and a house. In the future they’ll have three aspirations – a car and house and a robot.” – Elon Musk
Innovation of NEO is an exciting new moved closer to the day when robots because commonplace as smartphones in our daily lives. Chelsea Finn, a leader in the robotics field, underscored the ambition fueling these strides, saying,
“We want to be able to breathe intelligence into any sort of physical embodiment, whether that’s a humanoid robot or even something that looks closer to an appliance.” – Chelsea Finn
As 1X prepares for a larger deployment of NEO later this year, anticipation is high. Yet critical questions remain regarding the societal effects of incorporating this technology into our everyday lives. Though robots such as NEO present the potential for increased convenience and efficiency, they present drawbacks such as replacing jobs and overreliance on automation.