Humanoid Robot NEO Beta Launches for Home Use

Last Updated on September 3, 2024 by SPN Editor

NEO Beta represents a significant leap in robotics, transitioning from traditional, rigid robots to humanoids with bio-inspired designs capable of safely interacting with humans. This launch marks a major milestone for 1X as it moves from conceptual development to introducing a humanoid robot into consumer households. The video released demonstrates NEO’s safety features, showcasing its ability to work seamlessly among people. NEO is designed for mass production at the company’s factory in Moss, Norway.

1X is at the forefront of humanoid robotics, creating general-purpose robots for home use as a first step in solving physical intelligence. With a strong focus on safety, 1X aims to deliver accessible and practical products for consumer households. The company’s mission is to create an abundant supply of physical labor through safe, intelligent humanoids that work alongside people.

“Our priority is safety,” said Bernt Børnich, CEO at 1X. “Safety is the cornerstone that allows us to confidently introduce NEO Beta into homes, where it will gather essential feedback and demonstrate its capabilities in real-world settings. This year, we are deploying a limited number of NEO units in selected homes for research and development purposes. Doing so means we are taking another step toward achieving our mission.”

To achieve its goal, 1X humanoids must be exposed to diverse environments to become fully capable of performing a wide range of tasks.

Last year, in October 2023, Figure unveiled its humanoid robot prototype, which went from zero to dynamic walking in just 12 months. Despite initial skepticism due to the lack of tangible progress, Figure has now unveiled its Figure 01 robot, which has achieved dynamic walking in under a year.

Other companies, like Tesla, are also developing humanoid robots. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, unveiled a model of the humanoid “Optimus” robot, which uses some of the same AI software and sensors as the Autopilot driving assistance system in Tesla vehicles. At Tesla AI Day 2022, Optimus was showcased to demonstrate the company’s advancements in autonomous robots and vehicles.