Homes are human-shaped
Shelves, handles, countertops, stairs and appliances are designed around human reach and hands. A humanoid can potentially use the installed environment without remodeling the home.
Generality has a cost
Legs and dexterous hands add joints, sensing, actuators, calibration and risk. Wheels can be quieter and more efficient on one floor. Specialized cleaners can be cheaper and better at a narrow job.
Whole-body control matters
Real household tasks combine walking, balance, reaching and object handling. Figure’s Helix 02 and Google DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics 2 both emphasize whole-body control because a robot cannot treat locomotion and manipulation as unrelated problems.
Hands are the bottleneck
A robot that walks well but cannot handle cloth, a slippery glass or a zipper has limited domestic value. Useful hands need force control, tactile feedback, regrasping and robustness across everyday objects.
Home engineering is different
Household humanoids need quiet motion, soft contact surfaces, battery safety, predictable behavior and easy charging. 1X emphasizes NEO’s soft design; Figure describes soft goods, improved audio and wireless charging in Figure 03.