Neo Beta Humanoid Robot Takes One Step Closer To Android Assistants

With a foam-wrapped figure, the robot is designed to appear more human, but Neo Beta’s foam wrapping has a hidden safety feature as well. Because robots and humans will likely collide at some point, either because of a malfunction or just clumsiness, keeping the robot’s body soft is a way of protecting people who might come into contact with Neo Beta.

With no sharp corners or heavy machinery, Neo is only 66 pounds and is designed to work alongside people in a collaborative way.

Neo Beta will be tested for the consumer market later this year, with safety checks alongside testing for bugs or engineering problems. A limited number of households will try out a Neo unit before the company releases their robot assistant to the general public so they can address any issues in the testing phase.

The final release date for Neo Beta is still unknown, but the limited testing phase is an optimistic step toward general distribution.

Designed to walk, jump, jog, climb, and run, Neo Beta can do a number of helpful tasks for its human owners. While the robot assistant can operate independently and adapt to new environments tapping into AI technology to interpret its surroundings, it can also be operated remotely by humans if they get stuck by taking over their visual and movement commands.

While Neo’s lack of face or eyes might indicate that it can’t see, it uses cameras and other sensors to navigate.

Robots becoming sentient and taking over the world is a common theme in future dystopian horror, but the threat from Neo Beta is more human than machine.

Its remote operation capability leaves some wondering if it could be hijacked via a wireless signal or somehow hacked to comply with commands given by an interloper. The possible fallout from having a human-sized robot acting on behalf of a criminal in your home could be massive.

The other issue with Neo Beta is that its faceless, fuzzy jumpsuit-wearing form is unnerving to many. Imagine waking up and seeing Neo hanging out in your bedroom, waving its robot fingers at you, or doing some chores in the dark. The hooded humanoid robot is as much the stuff of nightmares as it is the stuff of sci-fi fantasy.

Picking up a backpack and handing it to a smiling human in its promotion video, Neo Beta seems like it could be a helpful companion.

If you take into account that the humanoid assistant could help people with limited mobility or disabilities to better access their surroundings, Neo’s helpfulness seems more significant. Keeping this intended use in mind, it might get easier to see Neo as a helper rather than a creepy guest.