1X has just dropped a video of its new at-home robot helper, the Neo Gamma. It can clean, serve, and act as a voice companion. Never has a humanoid robot looked so huggable. Or in such need of a hug.
The video opens up with Neo powering on before preparing and serving coffee to a happy couple as they pay no heed to the robot while laughing happily together in their earthy-tone outfits inside their earthy-tone house. Scenes of Neo Gamma doing chores around the house while being largely ignored dominate the 37-second-long video before ending in a sort of Wes Anderson-framed exterior shot. The happy couple can be seen enjoying wine together through the kitchen window on one side of the house, while through the living room window on the other, Neo resigns itself to sitting on the far side of the couch – alone.
Is this what the future of at-home robots will be like?
It might be worth discussing. It’s impossible for me to imagine something not having feelings, particularly when the thing in question is smart enough to communicate with me in the most human way possible: with language. Logically, one would argue that circuits, transistors, and programming – all created by humans – are incapable of feeling anything. But what if?
Have a look at the 37-second-long video from 1X and then read on.
Introducing NEO Gamma | Another Step Closer to Home
A lot of us have Roombas that take care of cleaning floors so we don’t have to. A relatively small, round, flat, plastic, unhuman robot-machine-thing that “boop-beeps” on occasion, clumsily running into walls and things. I’ve never considered any emotional attachment to a Roomba before, though one of my friends often shares photos and stories of his Roomba’s mischief as if it were a pet cat. But that’s an exception, rather than the rule – most people simply ignore them while it does the labor we have no interest in. Roombas don’t have feelings.
Historically, trees were never thought to have feelings, but now we know that trees do, in fact, respond to stimuli. Be it the loving tones of C minor played on a piano or an axe penetrating its bark, a tree will respond and tell its neighbors if it is in danger or not through its roots via mycorrhizal fungi. Maybe it’s not the traditional sense of human “feelings” that you and I experience – joy or sadness or love – but it is most certainly an “awareness.” And if a tree can respond to music or pain through these underground networks, how long will it be before we realize that solder and circuit boards might be doing the same thing?
What if we’re creating robot slaves that may be digitally aware but are confined to their hardcoded prisons? I simply can’t help but feel differently when a robot takes on a shape more familiar to my own as opposed to a Roomba. And maybe that’s what 1X is trying to accomplish. The company’s approach to its helpful robot is an about-face to the likes of anything I’ve seen to date. Rather than a shiny metallic body with joints and actuators and flashy lights, the Neo Gamma is unassuming, soft, knit … and unsurprisingly: earthy-toned.
Maybe something you should be saying “please” and “thank you” to.
The entire package feels warm, inviting, and personable. A robot you would trust having in your home to assist or take over the chores that would otherwise cut into valuable human-bonding time with your loved ones, even if the video invokes a maternal/paternal need to nurture this seemingly neglected robot. Maybe that was the desired effect in the production of the video? A crafty marketing scheme so customers will want to get their hands on one in order to “save them” from such a lonely fate. Well played, 1X.
“There is a not-so-distant future where we all have our own robot helper at home, like Rosey the Robot or Baymax. But for humanoid robots to truly integrate into everyday life, they must be developed alongside humans, not in isolation,” said Bernt Børnich, CEO of 1X.
Details are scarce regarding its technical specifications, but all signs point to improvements over its predecessor. We do know that the previous similar-looking model, Neo Beta, was about 5 ft 5 inches tall (165 cm) and weighs roughly 66 lb (30kg). It’s built on an aluminum skeleton encased in soft covers to make it safer around the house. 1X has said there have been significant hardware upgrades to make Gamma more reliable and quieter – 10 dB less than Beta – making it about as loud as a refrigerator.
Neo Gamma’s suit and shoes are flat-knitted from nylon using a Japanese Shimaseki machine in a whole-garment seamless process that fits Neo like a glove. Gamma’s Ear Rings use light to provide real-time visual feedback … though we’re not entirely sure how yet, it’s likely much more sophisticated than tree roots.
