You can't make a great humanoid home robot without breaking a few eggs, and in that way, GigaAI's SeeLight S1 almost succeeds. It doesn't break the eggs, but it does appear to bend the rules of good culinary skills, delivering some of the worst-looking scrambled eggs and tomatoes I've seen in quite some time.
SeeLight S1 attempts this kitchen adventure during a long demonstration YouTube video in which the new humanoid bot — it was unveiled on May 20 — rolls around (not having legs is probably one of its better features), an apartment in China, and handles a wide range of home care tasks.
The robot cooks, cleans, organizes, does laundry, and even folds clothes. I'm not saying it does any of these things well.
The $28,000 (approximate Yen-equivalent) robot has a human-like torso and jointed legs bolted into a rolling base. The hands are a pair of claws attached to arms that more resemble industrial robot armatures than anything human.
It starts its day by making what looks like heat-and-serve tofu in the microwave, then quickly moves to a kitchen counter where it slices up tomatoes into very large eighths; having no mouth, it may not understand "bite-sized".
Next, SeeLight S1 makes some scrambled eggs, starting with two pre-shelled eggs in a bowl. They're whisked in rapid fashion, but it's also obvious that most of the video in these tasks has been sped up. So, it's not clear how long it takes for the robot to do anything.
The robot oils the pan and then haphazardly cooks the scrambled eggs before tossing in the tomatoes. The eggs looked overcooked, and the tomatoes, undercooked. No matter, this robot was serving them. I also watched it over-fry an egg with only slightly more success.
Later, SeeLight S1 did some laundry. The odd thing is that it appeared to pull dry clothes from the dryer and then transfer the same four pieces to the washing machine. It was not a convincing demonstration.
The robot is also shown with the apartment's family, where the mother asks the robot to fetch what they need to leave and start their day. It rolls over and grabs bags, backpacks, clothes, and a hat. Actually, the hat somehow appeared on the robot's head.
According to numerous reports, GigaAI's robot is expected to enter trials in Chinese homes by 2027. GigaAI hopes to cut the price in half by 2028, and hopefully, by then, SeeLight S1 will know how to properly make some eggs.
The need is real
Why make humanoid robots at all, especially if they can't accomplish many of these so-called frontier tasks as fast or better than a human? Someday, having such robots may be an absolute necessity,
China's population is reportedly shrinking and aging. There are fewer babies and more aging people. This is a story playing out around the world, and it's one of the reasons places like China and Japan are trying to fast-track home-helper/home care, humanoid robots like the SeeLight S1.
GigaAI SeeLight S1 may not be that impressive right now. Still, it's probably imperative that it improves over the next decade because there may soon be millions of people who need help managing their homes and possibly caring for elderly loved ones who can't care for themselves.
