Humanoid Robots Head to Homes: Meet the NEO Beta

Humanoid robots are heading for the home. OpenAI-backed robotics company 1X just dropped a short and sweet teaser video for their new humanoid robot, Neo Beta. 

In the video, the robot hands a person a bag and poses with them for a picture. While this is the first video 1X has shared of Neo, a hologram of the robot could be seen behind Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as he announced Project GR00T, Nvidia’s platform for the development of humanoid robots.

1X’s decision to show Neo with its arm around a person indicates how 1X may be hoping to differentiate itself from the competition. Most other robotics companies tend to show interaction with humans primarily to test robustness or to show how humans and robots can work together. 1X seems to be selling a kind of close and casual encounter that we haven’t seen a lot in the humanoid robotics space.

This is likely due to the fact that 1X says it hopes Neo can be put to use inside people’s homes, helping with various tasks and perhaps assisting people with limited mobility.

Neo is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 66 pounds, making it one of the lightest humanoids we’ve covered on what the future. 1X says Neo can be quickly taken over remotely if the robot starts having trouble.

It’s also covered in clothing, which makes it stand out in a crowded field of humanoid robots. This may be to cover up what 1X says is a “muscle-like anatomy,” perhaps protecting some proprietary technology, for aesthetic reasons or some combination of the two.

1X’s CEO Bernt Børnich says the company will be deploying some of its Neo Beta robots into homes for research and development purposes. To see the Neo Beta in action, check out the video embedded in this article.