- Unitree launches Robot App Store
- It may be a first in the industry
- The beta version has a handful of downloadable routines for the G1
Like so many technologies before it, modern robots are in search of that killer app, the one thing they could do that would make them so compelling that everyone would want one. But to find that app, you need, well, a robot app store, or at least that’s the apparent thinking behind the launch of Unitree’s App Store for its robots.
To be clear, this isn’t exactly like, say, an iPhone App Store. The routines Unitree customers can upload and download are not as varied as, say, an app that can help you budget or another that can help you calm down with daily aphorisms. Instead, Unitree’s App Store is mostly a repository of models or routines for robot tasks and movements.
Launching this week in beta, the Unitree App Store has just a few collections that include Funny Actions, Twist Dance, and Bruce Lee. As you might’ve guessed, the last will let your $13,500 G1 humanoid “reproduce Bruce Lee’s classic martial arts moves.” The Funny Actions models let the G1 “unleash its wildness.”
Unitree’s programming code is open source, which means owners can write movement and routine code for their own robots, and the App Store will provide a place for them to upload it. It’s not clear if Unitree will vet the software in a manner similar to what Apple does with its App Store.
There are other questions and limitations. For now, most of the app options are only for the G1 model. There’s also no clear monetization plan for Unitree or the invited developers. In a brief announcement video on YouTube, Unitree writes, “Exceptional developers will receive rewards.” That might be money or discounts on future robots, like the wild-looking, new, ballet-dancer-like H2.
Waiting for the iPhone of robots
Unitree’s approach to robotics development and outreach is decidedly different than most competitors. Unlike 1X and Figure AI, which are focusing on somewhat linear development, limited access, and high prices, Unitree has a growing array of robot designs (humanoid and quadruped) and price options.
The Chinese company also seems less focused on pure-play development and innovation than, say, Boston Dynamics, which is busy perfecting its all-electric Atlas that will likely end up in factories long before it ever reaches consumer homes.
Unitree, by contrast, appears to have sold quite a few pint-sized G1s to at least well-heeled influencers who have filmed the bots in compromising situations (I will never forget seeing a G1 run right into a full-length mirror).
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The app store feels like an extension of this strategy. Instead of holding development close, Unitree has swung the doors open and is encouraging developers to share. Assuming developers can build on each other’s open-source code, the existence of a “robot app store” could help speed up robot development and innovation.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that none of Unitree’s robots qualify as the “iPhone of Robots.” I’d argue that such a humanoid robot does not yet exist. People may be excited by 1X’s Neo Beta, but they will not be as thrilled when they’ve dropped $20,000 for it to slowly plod and be teleoperated throughout their homes. Figure 03, which lacks a timeline for home availability, might suffer a similar fate.
Unitree’s robots, which mostly run through canned routines and appear to have little autonomy or ability to deal with the unexpected, are not, even if they are somewhat cheaper than $20k, iPhone-grade either.
For now, we can celebrate the establishment of the first Robot App Store. It won’t be the last, but it and many others to come after will have a long wait for the perfect marriage of affordable humanoid robot and that always desired “killer app.”
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
