Meet Aria, Mila, Dave and Amar – the first four models coming out of Las Vegas-based humanoid company Realbotix. To make them more affordable than what consumers are likely to have to pay for ambulatory humanoids for at least a few years, the makers have decided to focus on the top half.
It's true that locomotion and joints, along with degrees of freedom in digits, are a work in progress when it comes to humanoids, and make any likely consumer models much slower to make it to market and far more expensive than what Realbotix is offering.
Essentially, you'll get to pre-order your choice of the four models, which as you'll see are armless torsos but with great hair, so we'll give them that. For the US$11,950 "tabletop" model, you'll get exactly what it sounds like. It's a robot that'll sit on top of a table or bench that you can interact with. Compared to the company's projected price for a humanoid with legs ($59,950) it's actually quite a bargain – relatively speaking.
But besides the obvious limitations, there are some additional catches. Right now, you'll need to pay $199 to "reserve" a model of your choice. The company doesn't say whether production is underway, except this range – Echo – will be on display at CES 2027 in Las Vegas in January and it expects to begin fulfilling orders in early 2027.
Keep in mind only 225 tabletop models and 25 complete-body humanoids will be produced to be shipped next year.
There's also one other catch. Regardless of which model-like model you pick, you'll need to sign up for a monthly subscription to keep chatting to your new friend. That'll set you back at least $19.99 a month, which offers you a reported 10 hours of conversation.
Now, I'm not much of a talker, but when I had pets I definitely spent more than 20 minutes a day talking nonsense to them. So keep in mind you'll be on a time limit if you want to make it through the whole month. And these things are surprisingly addictive – and like LLMs and other AI, keeping you engaged is critical. So that's not really a lot of time for the cash – nor do we know the software and AI inner-workings of the Echo model.
Like any subscription these days, there's a sliding scale. A Plus membership for $39.99 gets you 40 hours a month and unlocks more "expressive" voices and many different languages. And accents. Do accents change whether people invest this much in AI? Besides my nonsensical AI pets, I think I'd prefer my AI to be silent.
The top tier of subscription is known as Enterprise, costing $199 for 100 hours of chitchat and gives you more freedom to build your own AI characters and other add-ons.
Echo models come with a mix of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, so there's potential for them to become more than their short bio – which, to be fair, I have judged harshly. Both the women and men sound like they have been imagined by men for men. (Realbotix, happy to be wrong, just let me know – as I have a few more questions, too.)
“Echo robots represent a major step forward in Realbotix’s mission to improve human lives through social robots,” said Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix. “By focusing on companionship, education, and wellness, we are creating companions that support, educate, and care for people in meaningful ways.”
As for the hardware, the head and face can move and each of the four models are trained with different personalities. However, since none are available yet, we're going to have to just trust Realbotix on pretty much everything.
It's US delivery only, and the company expects the tabletop friends to be shipped (at at extra cost) in the second half of 2027.
You will, however, get your $199 deposit back if the company fails to fulfill production of the robots. But if you change your mind after you send that cash, Realbotix is explicit in it being non-refundable.
The website has their base personalities and features listed; essentially, the women are good listeners and nurturing, the men are either witty or "stable" and into wellness and healthcare.
"We don’t replace people, we assist them," the company notes. "Echo is a warm, capable presence people actually want around. So our robots look, sound, and connect like people, not cyborgs."
Defining "cyborg" is a rabbit hole I'll let you go down.
So while you might not find someone to play D&D with, it sounds like they're all ready to be podcast co-hosts. The site claims these models aim to "address the global loneliness epidemic in an affordable way." Since $11,000 (and my region) rules me out, some new plants and GTA 6 will have to suffice.
But if you're interested in learning more, check out the foursome on the company's website.
Source: Realbotix
