On video, he washes the dishes, takes out the trash and folds the laundry. NEO, the humanoid robot from 1X, has established itself as one of the faces of domestic robotics. But behind this staging, its performances remain limited.
Humanoids can do kung fu, but can they wash dishes? The NEO robot has caused a stir in recent months thanks to videos showing it performing various household tasks, such as taking out the trash, watering plants or folding laundry. Manufactured by the American-Norwegian company 1X, it is presented as one of the most advanced models in the domestic robotics niche.
Founded in 2014 by Norwegian Bernt Børnich, 1X has great ambitions for its robot and has just opened its own factory in the United States to produce it on an industrial scale. But while the first deliveries to individuals are planned for the end of the year, doubt remains as to the reliability of the humanoid.
A leading figure in domestic robotics
In terms of communication, 1X is one of the few Western humanoid robot manufacturers to compete with Chinese competition, which publishes daily videos of robots running marathons, dancing or doing kung fu. We have seen the NEO robot invited to participate in podcasts and videos showing it doing housework have gone around the world.
It is true that with its carefully studied design, it gives off a strong visual impression. Unlike other humanoids with a metallic and industrial appearance, the robot, which measures 1.68 m and weighs 30 kilos, is dressed in a full 3D mesh suit available in three colors, ranging from light taupe to darker brown. Colors chosen to integrate discreetly into a domestic environment. With his small round eyes and oval ears that light up when he listens to commands, NEO has a reassuring appearance.
1X opened pre-orders last October, offering the robot for $20,000, or via a subscription for $499 per month. The manufacturer claims to have received almost 10,000 orders in the first five days. To meet demand, 1X inaugurated its own assembly plant in Hayward, California, in April, the first from a Western humanoid manufacturer to produce in an integrated manner, actuators included, these components which translate software orders into physical movements. A second factory should be opened by the end of the year in San Carlos. The stated objective is to produce 10,000 robots this year, gradually reaching 100,000 units per year.
A world model for learning household chores
Behind these impressive figures and well-established marketing, the NEO robot still has significant limitations. The main obstacle is technical. The AI models that drive it, effective in closed and predictable environments, such as factories, are not adapted to the domestic setting. Furniture moves around, household tasks are less standardized than assembly line operations, and handling a glass without breaking it requires a level of precision that current robots struggle to achieve. Not to mention the risk of accident when a child or elderly person approaches the robot.
Thus, NEO remains partly controlled by humans: a teleoperator equipped with a VR headset must be present to supervise it. In order to resolve this problem, 1X announced in January that it had developed a new training method, based on a world model. Developed in-house and called 1XWM, the latter uses real-world videos from the Internet: the model learns by observing how objects move, fall, collide or are manipulated. Through millions of views, he learns the rules of physics: gravity, balance and the dynamics of interactions. From there, the robot can generate a video itself based on the task asked of it and mentally simulate the action before acting. “Neo can now learn from videos distributed widely on the Internet and directly apply this knowledge to the physical world,” summarized Bernt Børnich in a press release.
However, it will still take time before this training bears fruit. The robots which must be delivered at the end of the year must therefore be remotely operated by their owner. 1X is well aware of this and has described these first models as “early access”, encouraging their buyers to participate in their training. And an option will be offered to call on a 1X employee to take control of the robot remotely to perform certain tasks, in order to teach them. A bit like having to constantly be behind the maintenance agent you hired to explain how to clean, but for a much higher price.
