Humanoid robots have served as the subject matter for a handful of film productions, some with a strong horror character. Until recently, however, the existence of human-like robots was either an imperfect and anecdotal invention or a dystopia far in the future.
The Norwegian company 1X Technologies in collaboration with OpenAI has launched NEO Beta, a bipedal robot that shares elementary characteristics with humans such as its physical appearance and the way it moves. Its robot is specially designed to carry out household tasks, but its use is likely to spread to many other areas if it is sufficiently successful.
This robot would be like having a butler at your disposal 24 hours a day, but without pay. While it could be useful to everybody, the main beneficiaries of NEO would be the people with mobility problems and of advanced age.
What can the NEO robot do?
NEO can take care of all household chores. This robot's anatomy is designed to resemble that of human beings., It is therefore fully adapted to our world.
Unlike other robots with a very rigid movement capability, NEO has great freedom of movement, This makes him very fluid when moving around and handling objects. He is also able to control their strength and apply it more gently or firmly depending on the task at hand.
NEO could then perform many tasks within the household, for example:
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Tidy up the house: NEO can pick up objects from the ground and put them back in place.
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Assist with food preparation: It can chop vegetables, mix ingredients or lend a hand with other simple kitchen tasks.
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Cleaning surfaces: NEO could wipe tables, shelves and even windows with a cloth.
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Organising spaces: Reorganise objects in drawers, shelves or cupboards.
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Transporting objects: Carrying things from one room to another.
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Set up and remove the table: Helping to put out cutlery, glasses, tablecloths and plates for meals and then picking them up.
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Load and unload the dishwasher: NEO could load dirty dishes into the dishwasher and unload them after cleaning.
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Watering the plants: You could water the plants on a regular basis with a pre-scheduled timetable.
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Vacuum the floor: The rooms could be vacuumed.
Is NEO safe?
Having a robot servant at home may sound cool, but it does make us question certain dangerous scenarios. As this concern is so common and so reasonable, 1X Technologies has prioritised safety first in designing NEO Beta.
Firstly, the robot is padded and is smooth to the touch, so it has no sharp or pointed edges. This is not the case with most robots, which expose their entire metal or plastic structure.
Thanks to this well thought-out design, it is highly unlikely that NEO will accidentally cause damage to any furniture, people or itself. For example, if it were to collide with a table, If it does, it would not collapse and would not be left with any scratches. In principle, it is not even likely to collide with any static elements, as it has integrated sensors de movimiento muy desarrollados.
Además, la start-up tecnológica escandinava ya lleva un tiempo poniendo a prueba a NEO en muchos hogares con el propósito de recoger feedback y solventar cualquier defecto u omisión que pudieran traducirse en un problema de seguridad.
¿Qué diferencia a NEO Beta de otros robots?
Si bien NEO no es el primer robot humanoide que se ha creado, sí posee ciertas características que hacen que destaque entre el resto. Su competencia está compuesta de robots muy avanzados como el Optimus de Tesla, Figure A2 o el G1 de Unitree Robotics.
A simple vista, NEO se diferencia porque solo pesa 30 kilos, lo que lo hace más seguro, más fácil de transportar y más ergonómico en general. Es probablemente el robot a escala humana más ligero que existe.
A su vez, su objetivo principal es muy concreto: ayudar con las tareas domésticas. Por ahora, 1X Technologies no aspira a hacer de NEO un robot hiperdesarrollado de tecnología punta con un rango infinito de funciones. Es evidente que NEO utiliza la inteligencia artificial, pero no es uno de sus mayores atributos de venta.
Otro factor diferenciador que ya hemos mencionado es que NEO está acolchado y, por tanto, es más seguro. En este aspecto, 1X Technologies ha mostrado una loable consideración por la accesibilidad y la seguridad de los usuarios.
¿Cuándo sale a la venta NEO?
Como pasa en muchos proyectos tecnológicos muy ambiciosos, NEO todavía no tiene ni una fecha de comercialización prevista ni un precio definido. Aun así, la iniciativa de 1X Technologies apunta alto, por lo que no debe ser nada barata en un principio. Con los planes de producción masiva que tienen y la inversión de parte de empresas como OpenAI en su bolsillo, seguro que no tardaremos mucho en verlo.
¿Será NEO Beta el futuro de los asistentes del hogar?
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