When companies promise a future filled with helpful humanoid robots, most of us imagine sleek, autonomous machines quietly managing our chores. But when The Wall Street Journal tested the world’s first humanoid home robot designed for everyday use, the experience revealed a far stranger, more complicated reality.
The robot—Neo from Norwegian company 1X Technologies—is being advertised as the first household-ready humanoid that can safely operate around people. It stands 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs around 66 pounds, and uses tendon-like actuators instead of heavy motors, a design meant to reduce risk if the robot falls or bumps into objects. On paper, Neo represents a major leap toward the long-promised age of robotic helpers. In practice, the demonstration was equal parts impressive and unnerving.
Capable, Gentle… and Very Slow
In the controlled test, Neo successfully performed several common household tasks:
- placing utensils into a dishwasher,
- wiping a counter,
- folding clothes,
- opening a refrigerator and retrieving a bottle.
Each action was carefully executed, almost cautiously precise. The robot is engineered to move slowly, prioritizing safety over speed, and the result is a kind of deliberate, tentative motion that makes every task take far longer than a human would.
What looks smooth in promotional videos feels much more sluggish up close.
The Big Reveal: A Human Was Controlling the Robot
The most surprising truth behind the demo: Neo wasn’t acting on its own.
Despite being marketed as an AI-powered household assistant, every movement the robot performed during the WSJ test was remotely controlled by a real human operator wearing a VR headset.
This “tele-operation” method is how the robot currently functions in real homes. When buyers ask Neo to do something—fold laundry, fetch water, load a dishwasher—a remote operator logs in, sees through the robot’s cameras, and manually performs the action.
The company calls this a temporary step meant to generate training data so Neo can eventually learn the tasks autonomously. But for now, the experience is much closer to hiring a remote worker who puppets a robot inside your house.
And that’s where things get weird.
Awkward Stumbles and Strange Failures
Because the robot relies on human control, not all movements are seamless. During the test:
- Neo almost toppled while closing a dishwasher door.
- It struggled to fold a simple shirt, taking minutes to complete the task.
- It failed to crack a walnut—its fingers simply weren’t strong enough.
- A playful attempt to do the “Macarena” dance resulted in an arm twisting unnaturally, forcing the operator to quickly shut the robot down.
These moments highlighted the gap between the promise of humanoid robots and the current technological limitations. Neo can mimic human movements, but it cannot match human dexterity, strength, or fluidity.
A Privacy Tradeoff Few Expected
Perhaps the biggest concern for potential owners isn’t mechanical—it’s human.
To get work done, a remote person must see inside your home through the robot’s cameras. In other words, a stranger sees your kitchen, your laundry pile, the inside of your fridge. They must also interact with your belongings.
1X insists these operators are trained, vetted, and bound by privacy protocols, and that tele-operation is only temporary. But the very concept raises uncomfortable questions about surveillance, trust, and the boundaries between humans and machines in intimate spaces.
Early adopters will need to accept that robot help, for now, also means human help.
A Glimpse of the Future — But Not Quite There Yet
Neo signals an important moment in robotics. For the first time, a humanoid machine is being marketed to regular households rather than factories or research labs. The hardware shows promise: safe design, advanced locomotion, and human-like hands.
But the WSJ test also makes one thing clear:
we are still far from autonomous robot butlers.
Neo today is less a fully independent assistant and more a remote-controlled avatar struggling to master human tasks. It is impressive, fascinating, occasionally eerie—and undeniably unfinished.
Even so, the robot’s arrival marks the beginning of a new chapter. As tele-operated tasks train the robot’s AI systems, future models may gain genuine autonomy. When that day comes, humanoid robots may finally become seamless parts of our homes.
For now, though, living with one feels like inviting a robot—and a human stranger—into your house. And yes, it gets weird.
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