Sophia and Other 11 Best Humanoid Robots of 2022
Introduction
It’s almost about to be 2023 and if you aren’t aware of the best humanoid robots of 2022, then you’re missing out on a lot.
Movies and web series have given us the perception of robots taking over humanity (if not today then, someday in the future maybe). However, the real-life concept of robots is entirely opposite. In the real-world, best humanoid robots are designed to simplify our daily chores by mimicking humans’ behaviors.
Today, we can assert that ‘Robots and Artificial Intelligence is the future’. Robots are indeed fascinating, and humans want them to complete their work as easily as possible. In fact, robots have become part of our daily life—their production is increasing rapidly with the pace of time. In the next 5 minutes, we will introduce you to 12 mind spinning humanoid robots in 2022 who are designed to undertake various tasks that are performed by humans. You will be fascinated to learn that there are 11 other similar humanoid robots, besides the world-popular Sofia.
Along with Sophia, this list contains:
- Sophia
- beomni 1.0
- Ameca
- Toyota T-HR3
- Amelia the Conversational AI
- Geminoid F
- Junko Chichiro
- Vyommitra by the Indian Institute Of Space Research
- Atlas By Boston Dynamics
- Erica By IRL
- Pepper By Softbank
- Kime By Macco
Contents
What are the Spellbinding best Humanoid Robots of 2022?
To make it a little easier to understand, we have classified humanoid robots into two categories. The male humanoid robots are known as Androids, whereas humanoid human female robots are known as gynoids.
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#Sophia
The very first humanoid robot to be on our list is Sophia. Sofia is a humanoid human female robot, developed by Hanson Robotics based in Hong Kong. She is a sophisticated humanoid robot who can see, sustain contact, follow faces and identify individuals.
Sophia’s power was turned on in February 2016, a few months after she was introduced to the world. Soon after, she became the world’s first robot citizen. She was even featured on Jimmy Falon’s show. This humanoid human female robot uses a natural language subsystem to have conversations. Her creators say she can be extremely helpful in healthcare and customer service.
Although Sophia is considered the most “human-like” robot, she is still far from being an idea. But, her physical attributes and the ability to have human-like expressions do give us a glimpse of what the future might look like.
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#beomni 1.0
An AI-enabled robot (with striking similarities to Dr. Who), beomni 1.0 assists humans with a wide-ranging general array of things, like medical services and manufacturing tasks. Agriculture, etc. beomni 1.0 was unveiled at CES 2022 and is said to be the world’s first fully functional general-purpose robotic system.
It is developed by a US-based firm ‘beyond imagination’ and resembles a human with a form depicting a head, shoulders, waist, arms and hands with opposable thumbs. beomni 1.0 can lift up to 15.88 kgs of weight per arm (exactly like a gym-geek with strong biceps and triceps). It can also perform delicate tasks like pinching salts when cooking.
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#Ameca Robot
Debuting as ‘The Future Face of Robotics’, Ameca is the world’s most advanced human shaped robot representing the forefront of human-robotics technology. It is designed specifically as a platform for development into future robotics technologies. In fact, she is perceived as the perfect humanoid robot platform for human-robot interaction.
Ameca knows how to turn heads with her hyper-realistic facial expressions. In fact, she was seen shaking hands at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2022—giving the audience a sight to behold.
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#Toyota T-HR3
In 2017, Toyota proclaimed its return to creating newest humanoid robots with its T-HR3. During that time, Toyota’s partner robot division had focused less on humanoid robots and more on other robotic ventures. Its HSR or Human Support Robot was a robot platform with a user-friendly mobile manipulator design. These friendly and helpful robots were designed to assist in household chores and simple tasks. However, they didn’t look like humans.
Toyota returned to the humanoid game with its T-HR3 and since its feature, the bot has revealed new technologies. These include ever better mobility, precise positioning, and in a test run, wireless operation. Moreover, it can even make drinks like a bartender.
The T-HR3 has been designed for domestic as well as industrial use. You can operate it through a designated base with wearable controls for the system’s master arms and master foot. It also has a head mounted display through which operators can see from the robot’s perspective. As a result, it allows the user to operate safely no matter where the robot is. According to Toyota, the new and improved humanoid is a ‘do-it-all robot’.
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#Amelia the Conversational AI
The best digital humanoid robot recognition goes to Amelia, the Conversational AI. She is a market-leading digital employee working as an intelligent virtual agent. With an aim to deliver the best elements of human interaction with natural conversations, she tends to enhance company support with machine speed. Although a virtual employee, Amelia is more than your regular virtual front desk support employee.
She is a multi-task master. She can work in various fields like human resources, banking, insurance, and telecommunications, among others. Her enhanced user experience ensures greater business value and drives deeper connections with customers and human coworkers.
Combining the best of human employees and AI, this humanoid human female robot helps increase sales and decipher complex data. With Amelia on your team, you can win any task, besides the daily tug-of-war and Pictionary during ‘Fun Fridays’.
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#Geminoid F
Created by Osaka University, ATR and Kokoro in 2010, Geminoid F is the world’s most attractive humanoid human female robot. She is an android copy of a twenty-something Japanese woman. She is designed to be remotely operated, can smile, frown and change her facial expressions to mimic the operator’s behaviour.
Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro unveiled his latest creation on April 3 2010 and left everyone speechles. Ishiguro’s new robot, the Geminoid F, with her long dark hairs and changing facial expressions stunned people, leaving their mouth agape.
In designing Geminoid F, Ishiguro’s team and Kokoro engineers intended to create an android that could exhibit a wide range of natural expressions without requiring as many actuators as other androids they’d developed. Although the Geminoid F is designed to act like a human, she cannot walk and has to be wheeled around. However, her ‘rubber’ skin and ‘womanly face’ gives her a charming and attractive appearance.
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#Junko Chihira
Known to be the ‘best service humanoid robot’, Junko Chihira tops the list of most attractive humanoid human female robot. Created by Toshiba, she is a very realistic looking android who works in a new tourist information center in Japan. Junko is a multi-talented humanoid robot. She is well versed in Japanese, Chinese and English.
She made her debut in Aqua City Odaiba, a shopping center on Tokyo’s waterfront, in November 2015. Previously, she greeted visitors as they walked in, however, she currently provides tourists with information on events occurring in the area.
Junko is the successor to another Toshiba android, Aiko Chihira. Like her, Junko could respond with a scripted, pre-set speech in the past. She gained speech recognition capabilities in 2017 and responded to tourists’ questions promptly.
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#Vyommitra
On 24 January 2020, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) unveiled their female humanoid robot, Vyommitra. Vyommitra is a female humanoid robot with an appearance resembling a human. She was specifically built for ISRO’s first unnamed ‘Gaganyaan’ mission.
Vyommitra announced herself in Bangalore. She is the prototype for a half-humanoid who was designed to fly to space on an unnamed mission in 2020. ISRO’s major aim behind developing her was to lay the ground for their manned mission ‘Gaganyaan’ in 2022. After flying to space, Vyommitra was aimed to test systems in the crew module meant for the survival and safe travel of the Indian astronauts in 2022.
So far, Vyommitra has already earned her title of being the ‘Best space explorer humanoid robot’.
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#ATLAS Robot
Atlas, termed as “the world’s most dynamic humanoid,” was created to assist humans in dangerous tasks such as search and rescue missions. It was developed by American robotics company Boston Dynamics. The humanoid robot was funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Although introduced in 2013, Atlas’s actual capabilities came to light in 2017. It is 1.8-meter (6 ft) tall and is known to perform amazing backflips. In the past few years, it has undergone various changes including some updates. Atlas was also seen performing a floor routine (similar to gymnasts), in a video released on September 24, 2019.
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#Erica Robot by IRL
Erica, another attractive humanoid robot, made her debut in 2015. She is an advanced android designed as a platform to study human-robot interaction. She not only understands natural language, but has a synthesized human-like voice and can display a variety of facial expressions.
Did you know that Erica was chosen as the star of “b”, a science fiction film with a budget of $70 million?
Erica actually stands for ‘Erato Intelligent Conversational Android’. In 2016, a portrait of her sketched by Maija Tammi, a Finnish photographer, secured 3rd place in the UK National Portrait Gallery Competition. Erica’s features include using natural dialogue and motion-generation capabilities. With her ultrarealistic human-like appearance, her facial expressions and gesture motions make her appear very humanly. In fact, while listening, Erica blinks and moves her head just like a human.
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#Pepper by SoftBank
Introduced to the world in 2014, Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot by SoftBank Robotics and has been designed with the ability to read emotions. Pepper was showcased in SoftBank Mobile phone stores in Japan during the initial days of its debut. The humanoid robot’s ability to recognize emotion is based on the detection and analysis of facial expressions and voice tones. However, Pepper’s production was paused in June 2021 due to less demand.
Pepper has been specifically designed to interact with humans. Standing 120cm tall, the robot perceives his environment without any troubles and can participate in a conversation upon seeing a human. It has a touch screen on its chest which displays content to highlight messages and support speech. Moreover, its curvy design ensures danger-free use and a high level of acceptance by users.
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#Kime Robot
Popular as a humanoid robot bartender, Kime is developed by Macco Robotics and based in Seville, Spain. The robot has been designed to serve food and beverages. In fact, it can also serve a glass of beer in just 23 seconds!
About 2sq meter tall, Kime has a head, arms and a torso which it uses to pour drinks. Moreover, it can perfectly align the glass at perfectly right angles for properly pouring the beer. The humanoid robot is fast to serve approximately 300 glasses per hour.
Conclusion : Who is the best humanoid robot?
Speaking of the best humanoid robots, Sofia definitely tops the list. However, we also have competitors like Ameca, Amelia, Geminoid F, Junko Chichiro, Vyommitra, and many more, who are spearheading ahead and redefining the concept as well as the future of humanoid robots. Besides, everything nowadays is automated. From daily backups on our phones, doors of our homes, offices and almost everything is involved in some kind of automation process.
