NEO, a domestic robot developed by the company 1X, is changing the game in home automation. Most recently, NEO showcased his amazing abilities by performing many household tasks. It watered the houseplants, ordered an afternoon cocktail, and picked up the family’s laundry… without breaking a sweat. The robot proved to have a great deal of promise, but it ran into ample challenges that exposed the present shortcomings of robotic technology.
On the day of our demonstration, NEO was able to water plants to great effect but not without some splashes. The robot did have one small leakage incident while doing this task. More recently, the same robot retrieved a drink from a fridge for a human operator, demonstrating its competency in navigating domestic environments. When it came to clearing away plates and mugs, it turned out NEO needed help from a human. Whether going off course, overboard, or getting stuck under furniture, this combination of autonomous action and human intervention paints the reality of household robotics today.
NEO’s creator, robotics researcher Jalal Mahood, said the robot is always learning. “And NEO is becoming quicker by the minute,” they said, underscoring how real-time advances are constantly evolving the little robot’s features. NEO’s training included remote human operators physically demonstrating actions for NEO to take while dressed with VR headsets and sensors. Unlike traditional heavy machinery, this approach allowed for a more iterative educational process with operators teaching NEO to perform different tasks.
For all of its ingenuity, NEO could not accomplish the simplest tasks. For example, it struggled to grasp the handles of cupboards, making it less powerful in key scenarios. The human and robot team successfully folded T-shirts in 90 seconds. This exceptional performance truly showcases its capability to tackle all laundry tasks with utmost efficiency.
In one extreme example, NEO had to produce a peanut butter sandwich. However, this apparently straightforward task turned out to be incredibly challenging for the robot. On its very first attempt, NEO broke a wine glass. This recent incident underlined the need for it to improve its flexibility and accuracy as well, urgently.
1X has ambitious plans for NEO’s future. With the goal of improving the robot’s AI capabilities, the company plans to introduce it into homes later this year. Buoyed by huge financial support from tech titans such as Nvidia, 1X is likely to go on to test the limits of domestic robotics.
“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,” – Bipasha Sen
These days, NEO’s usefulness extended beyond vacuuming. She was hoovering up and cleaning up after an entire family. While these challenges demonstrated the incredible versatility of Skydio, they illustrated the need for human intervention in complex situations. Bernt Børnich remarked on this balance: “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.”
As robotics technology moves forward, specialists at 1X implore that the intelligence we create must be put into physical embodiments. Chelsea Finn articulated this vision: “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.”