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1X unveils NEO, the world’s first consumer-ready humanoid home robot

NEO The Home Robot, 1X, US

US – Robotics firm 1X Technologies has launched NEO, a humanoid household robot it calls the world’s first consumer-ready humanoid. Standing at 168cm tall and weighing 30kg, NEO is designed to help with domestic chores such as folding laundry and tidying. Covered in a soft 3D lattice polymer available in tan, gray and dark brown, the robot connects via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 5G and can be operated by voice or through a mobile app.

‘Humanoids were long a thing of sci-fi… but today, with the launch of NEO, humanoid robots become a product,’ said Bernt Børnich, CEO and founder of 1X.

Despite the fanfare, NEO’s abilities remain limited. It can lift up to 68kg and carry 25kg, but tasks such as cooking or moving unevenly still pose challenges. The Wall Street Journal noted it took two minutes to fold a shirt and occasionally struggled to balance.

Available to preorder now, NEO costs £15,216 ($20,000, €17,406) outright or £380 ($499, €434) per month on lease. While the robot’s functions are still evolving, its launch signals a significant step in bringing humanoid robotics from the lab into the living room.

The launch of NEO offers a glimpse into themes from LS:N Global’s The Synthocene Era: Far Futures, where we explored how human–machine fusion could reshape daily life. NEO’s expressive design embodies this tension, highlighting ethical and emotional issues and questioning how far we should go in humanising technology.

Strategic opportunity

Explore hybrid workforce models where AI and robotics augment human capability which are supported by a reskilling programme and robust ethical guidelines that ensure trust, safety and responsible adoption

Football Manager adds women’s teams for the first time

Style of Our Own, London, UK

Global – Football Manager, the world’s best-selling football management simulation played by over 20m people, is finally introducing women’s football into its virtual world. It now features around 40,000 female players in 14 leagues, making this the most ambitious update of Football Manager in its 20-year history.

The addition posed a challenge for developer Sports Interactive, which had to research and verify detailed career data which is often poorly recorded in women’s football. Motion-captured player movements, a revamped tactics system and an overhauled interface ensure women’s teams are fully integrated at club level, providing the same depth and realism as the men’s game.

‘This is the biggest database in women’s football in video games. We've had to go out and do some real hard work to find this accurate data,’ Tin Keech, Sports Interactive’s head of women's football research, told the BBC.

In Game-Changers: The Future of Sports Fandom and the Women’s Sporting Economy, we unpack how female players, fans and industry insiders are building a new economy, culture and fandom around women’s sports – leaving the archaic industry no choice but to catch up.

Strategic opportunity

Women’s football is attracting a wave of new fans: leverage archival content, legends and past achievements to create accessible entry points for new audiences, positioning your brand as a champion of the sport’s evolving story

Stat: Health and wellbeing drive women’s essential purchases

AI imagery by The Future Laboratory, UK

UK – Women are increasingly choosing ‘essential’ purchases through the lens of comfort, self-care and wellbeing, according to a new survey by Think Stylist. Skincare ranks highest, with 64% of women naming it as their top essential buy, followed by entertainment subscriptions such as for Netflix (59%), and premium foods such as good-quality olive oil, coffee and chocolate (50%).

The research highlights a shift away from convenience-driven consumption, with 69% of women citing mental and physical health as the primary motivators for essential purchases. Time-saving solutions, once considered to be important, now rank far lower, with only 12% of respondents valuing products that simply ‘save time’.

This signals the rise of what can be called modern survivourism, where essentials are defined as products and services that help individuals to navigate the pace, pressures and stresses of contemporary life.

In an era that’s defined by economic uncertainty and environmental concern, indulgent but functional items – from curated playlists for workouts and meditation apps to candles and nourishing foods – are used as small daily rituals that support mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

While these purchases might be considered as luxuries in other countries, for many women in the UK they are now non-negotiable components of everyday life and reflect a recalibration of what is essential.

Strategic opportunity

Develop products and services that give pleasure and help the user to build their resilience. Turn everyday essentials into self-care tools that help women to navigate stress and support mental and physical health