The concept of robots might sound futuristic, but they already exist in various aspects of our lives. They exist in factories, where they are used to complete mundane tasks. They exist in our living rooms, where they zoom about vacuuming up dust, dirt, and pet hair off our floors. During CES 2025, Realbotix took the wraps off our robotic nightmares, which it has decided to call Melody.
A lifelike, humanoid design
When we think of robots, most of us might think of machines with a humanoid appearance. Think of the cyborg from the Aliens movies or Arnold Schwarzenegger from Terminator. Or a little more friendly and comedic, C3P0 from the Star Wars franchise.`
With Melody, Realbotix has brought that vision to life, although we’re not sure how we feel about it. There’s no doubt that Melody looks scarily humanlike. In the video above, Realbotix shows how users can peel the face off Melody and replace it with other faces. You can even change its hair and appearance depending on what you need. The underlying exoskeleton is also surprisingly lifelike, with eyeballs, teeth, and even gums.
According to Realbotix, it designed Melody with modularity in mind. The company envisions it being long-lasting, and users can easily swap out body parts components as and when needed. The modular design also makes Melody easy to transport. It can be easily disassembled and packed into a suitcase, ready to go to your next destination.
The robot also uses Dynamixel’s P-Series servo motors, which Realbotix claims allow for smoother, more fluid, and more humanlike movements. Judging from the videos, it does look relatively smooth and fluid, but we question the “humanlike” claim.
Open-source
The modular design suggests that Realbotix envisions a future involving third-party components, which might explain why the company has chosen an open-source design for its platform. This means that Melody’s code is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. This approach could also lead to community creations (think Raspberry Pi), potentially expanding the robot’s capabilities and real-world applications.
Melody also integrates with third-party AI platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In the future, this will also allow users to find and use software more suited to their needs. For instance, companies that choose to use Melody as a personal greeter at a hotel might choose a platform more appropriate to their business. It could run an AI model that helps guests check in, book restaurants or shows, or recommend fun things to do in the area.
It could also be used in the healthcare space. Hospitals can deploy Melody to answer basic healthcare concerns, check patient status, and more. Alternatively, users can always opt to use Realbotix’s own AI platform.
Realbotix hasn’t announced if or when Melody will be available for purchase.
2025-01-09 15:10:54