BYD is reportedly planning to show a humanoid robot for the first time soon. Well, it sort of already has, with a teaser image posted over the weekend on WeChat from its Di Space Zhengzhou site.
“Notably, the account is a local channel for BYD’s offline science education and experience venues, not the company’s main official platform. BYD has yet to confirm the timing of the reveal or any product details,” CnEVPost shares. “Still, Di Space is positioned for hands-on, interactive displays. That has led to widespread expectations that the early-August event will be more than a concept unveiling, and instead the first public showing of a physical prototype.”
“My goal is to put two or three robots in every store,” BYD executive vice president Stella Li also said just about a month ago.
I’m sure robots will be useful for some things, but I continue to wonder about this robot craze. Almost every business you call now starts off with an automated help agent. Aside from sometimes directing you to the department you need to get in touch with, I find these largely annoying and useless. I have developed the habit of repeatedly saying “can I talk to a human?” or “please connect me with a human” from the beginning — it’s normally the best, quickest way to actually get the help I need. (I encourage you to try it out — it’s such a relief, and sometimes funny — my daughters and even sometimes my wife cracks up at this.) Are humanoid robots going to be really useful and better at doing a bunch of things humans do, or is it just the fantastical idea of this (and The Jetsons) that is hyping the whole industry?
