While 1X CEO Bernt Børnich has committed to deploying the Neo humanoid robot into consumer households before the end of the calendar year, a piece of the machine has already made its debut inside a private residence. It is not the full unit, however, but merely the head.

Resting atop a stone fireplace mantel, this disembodied shell was recently captured on video casually commanding a living room television. Shared by 1X chief designer Dar Sleeper, the footage shows the Neo head positioned near a stack of books, operating alongside a spare face shell. Upon a verbal request from someone in the room, the television powers on, the Apple TV interface launches, search text is automatically inputted, and playback begins for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Remarkably, no physical body, hands, or traditional remote control are involved. The unit autonomously bridges a connection to the Apple TV to direct its functions.

Teammates who don’t have NEOs yet using factory defect heads to get ahead of integrating their house, Sleeper wrote on social media.

The Evolution of Factory Cast-Offs

During a previous interview, Sleeper discussed hosting a Neo unit in his own home, noting that select 1X employees and insiders were granted early access. It appears that team members who missed out on the complete bipedal model are improvising with factory cast-offs.

Despite lacking mobility, these units demonstrate an unexpected capability to interface with and govern smart home appliances. Although this serves as a modest demonstration—a task easily managed by a standard smart speaker, likely engineered by an employee during leisure hours—it sparks a fundamental debate regarding the true utility of domestic humanoid robots.

Redefining Household Robotics

Popular imagination often paints home humanoids as chore machines. Expectations lean heavily toward physical labor like folding laundry, washing dishes, tidying spaces, retrieving refrigerator beverages, or preparing morning meals. These physical mechanics are notoriously difficult; a previous test revealed that humanoid robots suffered an 88% failure rate across standard household tasks. While 1X equips Neo with some of the most advanced hands in the robotics sector, software advancement will ultimately dictate their practical utility.

Nevertheless, the architectural makeup of Neo's head—mirroring other humanoid models—inherently possesses the core requirements of a smart home controller: integrated cameras, microphones, speakers, internet connectivity, and an advanced AI cognitive framework. In essence, Neo houses the equivalent capabilities of an Amazon Echo or Apple's HomeView smart display.

  • Equipped with mobility limbs and dexterous hands
  • Supported by expansive onboard and cloud-accessible intelligence
  • Capable of executing both digital commands and physical interventions

This integration presents massive implications, given that fully automated smart homes remain rare. Most residences feature fragmented ecosystems—smart bulbs, a smart TV paired with legacy audio equipment, and a smart thermostat—alongside open windows, unlocked entryways, and wide-open garage doors. Traditional countertop hubs remain limited to connected devices, whereas a mobile humanoid robot can process network requests before physically walking across a room to push a button, shut a window, or engage a lock.

The Battle for Home Automation Supremacy

Tech giants including Apple, Amazon, and Google have spent a decade competing for dominance over domestic automation. With Apple preparing to launch its delayed smart home hub, a fascinating irony emerges: a 66-pound robotic unit in a knit suit could bypass traditional smart displays to anchor the modern connected home.

Sleeper touched upon this dynamic during a prior podcast discussion, noting that living with a humanoid robot highlights the value of subtle conveniences over hyper-complex chores.

People jump directly to things like Ikea furniture and the end-to-end laundry sequence and how hard that is. And by the way, that is super hard, Sleeper explained.

According to Sleeper, minor infractions hold profound weight: a stray sweatshirt on a couch, misplaced shoes, or an uncollected blanket.

It’s the little things that I think are hyper-impactful, he noted.

Strategic Business Logic for 1X

Executing minor commands like changing a channel represents the baseline of domestic assistance, yet clear commercial strategy drives 1X. Pre-launch projections indicate Neo will retail at $20,000 or rent for $499 monthly. 1X has maintained transparency regarding early adopters functioning as educators, utilizing remote teleoperators with user consent to guide the machine through unfamiliar tasks. Because a robot destined to fold laundry must deliver immediate value upon arrival, digital chores—such as managing music, lighting, media streaming, reminders, and scheduling—offer reliable entry points backed by current AI capabilities. Additionally, 1X has confirmed Neo will track birthdays, coordinate schedules, and retain conversational history.

Advanced physical and digital proficiencies will subsequently deploy through over-the-air updates.

I think the idea that your product gets better and better over time is so sticky, Sleeper stated.

Unanswered questions remain regarding the precise communication mechanics between the head and the television—whether via network protocols, native Apple TV integration, or computer vision tracking akin to autonomous AI agents. Furthermore, it remains unconfirmed if this capability will transition into a consumer-facing feature or remain an internal engineering experiment.

Regardless, the initial value delivered by a humanoid robot might not involve washing dishes. Instead, it may simply curate your evening movie marathon.