Twenty-five years of the new millennium have passed and we\u2019re still waiting for the futuristic world we were promised: Living in space, hover-cars, jet packs and extraterrestrial encounters.<\/p>\n
However, one technology straight out of \u201cThe Jetsons\u201d is tantalizingly close: humanoid robots<\/a>. Even better, the field is being led by forward-thinking US companies, such as Agility Robotics and Tesla.<\/p>\n The new breed of bots resemble humans, stand upright and can fold shirts, answer doors, get you coffee and take over back-breaking and monotonous factory work.<\/p>\n The Neo Gamma is robot that will take care of all your domestic needs. Courtesy of 1X<\/p>\n \u201cThese robots can act, move and behave in ways that we\u2019ve only ever dreamed of before,\u201d Modar Alaoui, founder of the Humanoids Summit<\/a>, told The Post, predicting we\u2019d better get used to it: \u201cThey will get embedded into the fabrics of our everyday lives.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, Alaoui says: \u201cYou\u2019re going to pull up to the next fast-food place and you\u2019ll see humanoids flipping your burgers and making fries. All the dangerous, boring, dull, mundane tasks will be done by machines. It\u2019s just a very natural evolution to automation.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are four of the most advanced you\u2019re most likely to see or interact with soon:<\/p>\n Carrying heavy boxes is not back-breaking labor for robots. Courtesy of Agility Robotics<\/p>\n Optimus, Created by Tesla\u2019s AI and Robotics Division<\/p>\n Customers at the\u00a0Tesla diner<\/a>\u00a0in Los Angeles already experienced robot service from Elon Musk\u2019s Optimus.<\/p>\n This past July,\u00a0CEO Musk\u2019s\u00a0bot \u2014 made by the company\u2019s AI and Robotics Division and outfitted with its Grok AI \u2014 greeted customers by handing them popcorn.<\/p>\n Never one to shy away from hyperbole, Musk, has predicted that his Optimus robots will curb crime, eliminate poverty and even perform surgeries.<\/p>\n Tesla\u2019s humanoid robot is a wiz at serving popcorn. Andreas Gora\/DDP\/INSTARimages<\/p>\n When not scooping popcorn, Tesla\u2019s robots can carry 45 pounds of goods while run at five miles per hour. Tesla<\/p>\n Following approval of his gigantic and much ballyhooed trillion dollar pay package, Musk vowed that his bot will be \u201cthe biggest product of all time, bigger than cell phones, bigger than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Judging from a recent video, the Optimus may lack the warm and fuzzy look of some competitors (it\u2019s as metallic and hard edged as the company\u2019s cars) but it looks like it will make an excellent domestic, factory worker or restaurant counter server.<\/p>\n The bots run off an AI chip and can walk at speeds of 5 miles per hour while carrying 45 pounds, according to Tesla. Videos show Optimus doing everything from waxing the floor to taking a person\u2019s blood pressure, carrying boxes down steps, making pizza and building a \u201cbrother\u201d robot.<\/p>\n Musk has reportedly put the cost of them in the range of $20,000 to $30,000.<\/p>\n NEO Gamma, Created by 1X Technologies<\/p>\n Who doesn\u2019t want a robot to do the dishes, straighten up after the kids and scrub the bathroom?<\/p>\n 1X Technologies, originally a Scandinavian company, but now with its headquarters in Silicon Valley, is answering that question. The company was founded in 2014 and specializes in developing AI-powered robotics.<\/p>\n Tough times for the guy from Daft Punk, eh? Only joking, he\u2019s not \u201cHuman After All\u201d \u2014 this is 1X technologies\u2019 Neo Gamma robot, who\u2019s goal is to help around the home. Courtesy of 1X<\/p>\n The Neo Gamma can perform all manner of household chores. Courtesy of 1X<\/p>\n The NEO Gamma robot, 1X\u2019s most ambitious effort yet, stands\u00a05\u2019 6\u201d and is very much a humanoid \u2013\u00a0with camera-infused eyes behind a dark shield on a human shaped head, baring a striking resemblance to one of the suits worn by French electronic music duo Daft Punk.\u00a0NEO Gamma\u2019s body perfectly suits the futuristic look of its clothing. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEarly adopters\u201d are already ordering the bots for $20,000 with delivery anticipated for later in 2026.<\/p>\n Randy Howie, co-founder of\u00a0New York Robotics<\/a>, a non-profit that fosters robotic development in the New York area, believes that \u201cthe\u00a0NEO\u00a0Gamma, more than any others, is closest to getting into the home.\u201d<\/p>\n While the robot is plenty advanced and brimming with artificial intelligence, it learns by doing and the idea is that through the trial and error of accomplishing tasks for early adopters, future\u00a0Neo\u00a0Gammas will learn how to be the robo-domestic of your dreams.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a not-so-distant future where we all have our own robot helper at home,\u201d\u00a01X CEO Bernt B\u00f8rnich\u00a0told\u00a0Dezeen.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Digit v4, created by Agility Robotics<\/p>\n Up and running in warehouses of companies including Amazon, the Digit v4 is a workhorse. Agility\u00a0Robotics, which\u00a0grew out of Oregon State University\u2019s robotics\u00a0lab, is\u00a0founded by professors and grad students, and has been evolving since 2019. The Digit is designed to do one very specific thing: move plastic bins that hold products in a warehouse or factory. It\u2019s the kind of job that grinds down humans and leaves us with aching backs. But it is no sweat for a robot.<\/p>\n Billed as the \u201cworld\u2019s first commercially deployed humanoid robot,\u201d the Digit V4 contains some 5,000 parts. Advanced artificial intelligence allows it to do not only what it is programmed for, but also to experience what is happening around it as well as to react on its own.<\/p>\n By creating a bot that resembles a human, the engineers behind Digit V4 helped factory owners avoid having to remodel their spaces. Courtesy of Agility Robotics<\/p>\n Digit V4 is billed as the \u201cworld\u2019s first commercially deployed humanoid robot.\u201d Courtesy of Agility Robotics<\/p>\n Agility has a factory in Oregon, where the robots are produced and programmed.<\/p>\n Tim Smith, a spokesperson for Agility, told The Post the Digit 4 \u201cis the only humanoid robot currently working in warehouses and factories today.\u201d<\/p>\n Because the\u00a0Digit v4\u00a0is built to match a human body, factories do not need to be reconfigured to accommodate them.<\/p>\n How productive are the robots? \u201cBy the end of\u00a0[2025],\u201d\u00a0said Smith, \u201ccommercially deployed Digit robots will have moved roughly 140,000\u201d of the plastic bins.<\/p>\n Olaf, Created by Walt Disney Imagineering<\/p>\n