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Humanoid robots advance from public demonstrations to pre-sales and home testing, while research indicates that a significant portion of household tasks could be automated in the coming years, although safety, privacy, reliability, and public acceptance still limit large-scale adoption.
Humanoid robots developed to operate within homes and work environments are advancing to a new phase of testing, pre-sales, and public demonstrations, while researchers estimate that about 40% of the time spent on household tasks could be automated in a decade.
According to companies in the sector, the proposal is to create machines capable of helping with cleaning, carrying objects, interacting by voice, and performing repetitive tasks, although large-scale adoption still depends on safety, operational reliability, and consumer acceptance.
The partial replacement of human labor by machines accompanies the history of industrialization, from mechanized production lines to software that today organizes schedules, responds to commands, and operates connected devices in homes, offices, and corporate environments.
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In the domestic space, however, the operation involves less predictable variables than those found in a factory, as each home has its own routines, misplaced objects, people moving around, and different levels of organization.
Homes may have displaced furniture, pets, children, stairs, fragile objects, and frequent changes in routine, factors that increase the technical complexity for any equipment designed to move without direct human control.
Therefore, a domestic robot needs to do more than recognize a cup on the table: it must reach it, hold it with the appropriate strength, avoid obstacles, and react to unforeseen events without putting residents at risk.
Home automation could reach 40% of tasks
Research from the University of Oxford and Ochanomizu University, Japan, published in 2023 in the journal PLOS ONE, estimated that four in every ten hours dedicated to unpaid domestic work and family care could be automated in ten years.
The survey interviewed artificial intelligence experts from the UK and Japan, focusing on everyday activities performed inside the home, including cleaning, shopping, food preparation, and tasks related to caring for others.
Among the most cited data from the research is the average of 39% of domestic work time being automatable, although the researchers themselves indicate that the potential varies according to the activity analyzed.
Grocery shopping appears among the tasks with the highest possibility of automation, with a forecasted reduction of almost 60% in time spent, while cooking and cleaning were also classified as activities with a high chance of automation.
The study points out, however, that care work, such as accompanying children, teaching, or caring for the elderly, presents less potential for automation compared to repetitive, physical, or easier-to-standardize tasks.
In this group, the average forecast was 28%, a percentage that indicates more restricted progress in activities that require social interaction, context interpretation, and decision-making in sensitive or unpredictable situations.
Humanoid robots enter consumers’ homes
Among the companies trying to bring humanoids into the home is 1X, a robotics company that presents its equipment as assistants capable of performing household tasks and offering personalized help to users.
The company opened pre-sales for NEO, a humanoid robot aimed at residential use, with delivery expected in 2026, according to information released by the company itself and technology outlets.
According to 1X, NEO was designed to perform simple tasks, such as fetching objects, opening doors, turning lights on or off, organizing spaces, and executing activities programmed via app.
Some more complex functions, however, may require remote assistance from human operators, a characteristic that broadens the discussion about privacy within homes, especially when the robot uses cameras and sensors to navigate the environment.
Bernt Børnich, president of 1X, stated at the launch that NEO brings science fiction closer to everyday life by transforming humanoids into products aimed at the consumer public, according to statements released by the specialized press.
In an interview cited by American outlets, the executive also stated that the model “is not for everyone,” referring to the current limitations and the need to accept some level of remote assistance.
The company reports that safety guided the development of the robot, with active and passive features created to reduce risks during operation in domestic environments and while performing physical tasks.
Nevertheless, the published guidelines recommend user caution, especially in the presence of children, vulnerable people, or pets, indicating that the technology still requires human supervision.
Figure, Tesla, and the race for general-purpose robots
Figure AI is also competing in this market with the Figure 03, presented by the company as a third-generation humanoid designed for the Helix system, for homes, and for mass production.
According to the company, Helix functions as an artificial intelligence model capable of interpreting commands, handling household objects, and operating in frequently changing environments, such as kitchens, living rooms, and circulation areas.
In the case of Tesla, Optimus remains among the company’s bets in humanoid robotics, but it has yet to appear as a widely commercial product in consumers’ daily lives.
Recent reports indicate that the company is working on production lines and new versions of the robot, although public doubts still exist about technical readiness, practical utility, and the real timeline for mass production.
The initiatives show that the sector has moved from the stage of restricted research to more frequent testing and presentations, but it has not yet reached the stage of widespread replacement of domestic workers, caregivers, or laborers.
A large part of the demonstrations takes place in controlled environments, with defined tasks and, in some cases, direct or remote human support, a condition that makes it difficult to compare these results with continuous operation within real homes.
Safety and privacy define the acceptance of robots
The main technical obstacle remains the reliable manipulation of objects in real spaces, according to researchers in the field of human-robot interaction and specialists in automation applied to the home environment.
To function in a home, the robot needs to combine computer vision, balance, controlled strength, movement planning, and the ability to correct failures without relying on a fixed script or a previously organized environment.
In addition to engineering challenges, studies on human-robot interaction indicate that trust depends on factors such as perceived competence, autonomy, and people’s willingness to delegate tasks to a machine in intimate spaces.
This difference helps explain the broader adoption of vacuum robots compared to humanoids, as devices restricted to floor cleaning tend to have more limited and predictable functions.
A low-profile device, focused on a specific task, tends to generate fewer questions about circulation, image capture, and physical interaction than a machine with a human form, cameras, microphones, and advanced sensors.
According to technology and behavior experts, popular culture also influences public reception because science fiction films have helped associate autonomous machines with risks of losing control.
In a household, however, concrete concerns involve privacy, data handling, access to captured images, responsibility for potential failures, and the physical safety of residents, visitors, and animals.
For now, home automation is advancing in stages, with connected devices, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice assistants, and artificial intelligence agents taking on specific functions within the routine of some consumers.
Humanoids capable of moving independently, interpreting complex contexts, and replacing people in various tasks are still undergoing a phase of public, technical, and commercial testing before broader residential adoption.
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