NEO's hand has 25 force-controlled joints and can feel a glass start to slip
1X's hand for its NEO humanoid has 25 degrees of freedom: 22 actuated joints across the fingers and palm plus three in the wrist. All 25 are natively force-controlled and backdrivable, so a finger yields when pushed and reports how hard. Quasi-direct-drive tendons run at low gear ratios of roughly 5:1 to 15:1, keeping the hand light while retaining enough force for tools, doors and carts. The tactile stack is moulded into the soft polymer and measures normal force, contact location and shear, which is what lets the hand detect a glass beginning to slip and tighten its grip in time. Demonstrated tasks include picking grapes, fitting light bulbs, zipping a jacket, LEGO, pouring tea, plugging in USB-C and sign language. NEO is on pre-order at $20,000 or $499 a month.