NEO will soon be tested in homes - a 'soft' humanoid robot helper that looks uncannily real

1X has revealed NEO, its humanoid robot that's designed to be your helper around the home.

The intelligent android assistant, as 1X calls it, is a prototype model, as you might guess, and we've been treated to a short clip of the NEO Beta robot in action.

The idea is to produce a soft robot, rather than a mechanical or stiff android, to look more naturally human. Indeed, some commenters don't believe it's a robot in the video that's just been shared, and are saying it's just a human in a suit.

It isn't - there's been other footage shared indicating that, plus you can tell from the arms (hands, obviously, and construction of the shoulders too) - but you could be forgiven for thinking so, in fairness, as the android helper has an eerily human air about it.

A press release tells us:

"The NEO Beta launch marks a major milestone for 1X as the company transitions from conceptual development to bringing humanoid robots into consumer households. In the video released, we show how NEO is safe to work among people. NEO has been designed to be produced at scale in the company's factory in Moss, Norway."

Safety is the main watchword when it comes to introducing NEO to the home, unsurprisingly. No one wants to imagine their robotic pal might accidentally break their stuff, or worse, their bones...

CEO at 1X, Bernt Børnich, explains that:

"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."

Apparently, a small number of these beta robots are going to be put in selected homes for testing this year, so these androids are actually going to be performing household duties for real in the next few months. That will be the real test of safety, of course, and not just a tiny demo clip on YouTube.

There is no spoon

Is NEO the 'one' when it comes to possibly being the first real robot assistant in the home? It's a big step on from a Roomba, let's be honest, and probably not a stride that many folks are going to be that comfortable taking at this point. We've all seen the TV series 'Humans' after all... (and the Red Dwarf soap opera, 'Androids,' for that matter).

There are other issues here aside from the obvious safety concerns, too. Aren't we getting quite sedentary enough as a race, these days, sat staring at our plethora of screens, without having robots do (almost) everything for us?

We get it - no one wants to clean their house (or most people don't anyway), but how long will it be before walking to the shops becomes a thing of the past (between robots, delivery drones, and the like), and one way or another, daily step counts ebb even further. There's a balance to be struck between progress and health - staying active - here, and that's one of our bigger concerns.