Tech Life When will a robot do my laundry?
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Jan 13, 2026 Joe Tidy, the BBC cyber correspondent, dives into the world of humanoid domestic robots. He explores new advancements showcased at CES, revealing the mixed progress of robots like Eggie and Memo. Joe discusses their struggles with simple tasks and examines public reactions from Singapore. The conversation highlights the competitive landscape of robotics and the potential of Isaac, a robot quickly mastering laundry. With insights from industry experts, this episode tackles the future of robots in our homes and the challenges they still face.
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Startup Runs Robot Trials In A Real House
- Joe Tidy visited Tangible AI's Palo Alto house where engineers live and test their robot, Eggie, in real home-like settings.
- Eggie performed tasks slowly and stuttered while a teleoperator in a suit controlled many actions to teach its neural network.
Memo Trained With Real-Homes Glove Data
- Joe watched Memo from Sunday AI autonomously perform many tasks but the demo briefly failed and required a reset.
- Sunday trains Memo using gloves worn by paid people in 500+ homes, collecting diverse human motion data for learning.
Human Teleoperation Likely To Precede Autonomy
- Joe acknowledges initial remote operation may be outsourced to cheaper human operators until robots become more capable.
- He warns this intermediary labour model could persist before full autonomy dissolves such roles.
