What am I even on this planet for, really? To play videogames? To partake in an unhealthy diet? To make awkward sexual passes at the consenting partner of my choice? All of the above.
I might as well dig my own grave and climb into it because there’s a robot on the brink of accomplishing all of those important tasks in my place. As a human, I’m officially obsolete because the NEO Home Robot can use an Xbox controller, open a bag of Funyuns, and slowly, awkwardly remove someone’s clothing. Well, I had a good run. Goodbye, everyone.
As you can see in the video, NEO, created by Palo Alto company 1X Technologies, has some pretty finely articulated hands that appear to be capable of (slowly) performing household chores, including:
A lot to unpack there. First, I can absolutely see the potential of a robot that can perform basic household chores, pick things up, and yes, even remove articles of clothing: for an elderly person or someone with a disability (who is also fabulously wealthy because these robots cost $20,000 or a require a $500 monthly subscription fee), a helper bot could be life-changing.