Yushu releases its latest robot: Standing at 1.8 meters tall, it can dance and perform kung fu, but its appearance leaves much to be desired.
Unitree's fourth humanoid robot, Unitree H2, is spinning into the spotlight!
This new product stands at 180 cm tall and weighs 70 kg, a full 23 kg heavier than the H1 robot of the same height.
With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, it means the battery and control board have to be squeezed into its small chest.
Compared with its predecessors, the biggest change in Unitree H2 is the addition of a bionic human face in appearance.
From its looks to its height and weight, the overall form of H2 is closer to that of a real human.
However, netizens don't seem to appreciate the beauty of this face...
Although it looks similar to the robot NS - 5 in the 2004 science - fiction movie I, Robot (also translated as Robots) starring Will Smith.
But after browsing the comment sections on major platforms, people think it's a bit creepy.
We wonder if it's because the diameter of the colored contact lenses is too large, triggering people's uncanny valley effect.
As of the time of publication, the detailed information of H2 has not been updated on Unitree's official website.
There is only a short accompanying text introduction when the official account released the promotional video:
(H2 is positioned as a bionic humanoid robot, born to serve everyone safely and friendly.)
How did H2 perform on its debut stage?
Two months ago, Unitree had already announced this new - type robot on its official account.
At that time, only a poster was released, revealing these details: 180 cm tall, with a slender nine - head - to - body ratio and 31 degrees of freedom throughout the body.
In addition, the silhouette of the robot on the poster was posed in a ballet dancing position, accompanied by the keywords "agile" and "elegant".
The information revealed on the poster was all shown in the official video released by Unitree this time.
Unitree H2 actually did three things in the video: dancing, kung fu, and a catwalk.
Dancing
Let's take a look at H2's debut stage performance:
It can also spin around like the magic of love:
Compared with other models of Unitree robots, H2 is indeed more relaxed when performing these movements.
The H1 that did the yangge dance on the Spring Festival Gala had only 19 degrees of freedom, and its stage performance was a bit clumsy. At that time, netizens gave it the nickname "Grandma Robot".
The number of degrees of freedom of H2 has been increased to 31, which should be very helpful for showing dance moves.
But some netizens said that H2's performance in the dance segment is still a bit far from the "elegant" promised in the preview:
The first segment looks like a drunk person flailing around.
Some also said that although its dance performance ability is rich, it lacks emotion, so it's like a zombie dancing:
Kung Fu
Chinese Kung Fu is one of Unitree's specialties.
Although Unitree noted at the end of the video that "some extreme tests should not be imitated", it's obvious that H2 still performs excellently in this area:
Watch it throw a powerful punch:
Previously, Unitree usually used the 130 - cm G1 to demonstrate kung - fu moves, and the 180 - cm H1 rarely did such performances.
After increasing the height by 50 cm, the expressiveness, stability, and coordination of H2 when punching and kicking seem almost the same as those of the G1.
This actually means that Unitree has made great improvements in the relevant technical capabilities of robot robustness and coordination.
Catwalk
With a human face, H2 also put on clothes and did several catwalks, walking in a coordinated and natural posture.
When it puts on pants and a hat, from the back, it really gives a bionic - human feeling -
Does it seem less in the uncanny valley when wearing a hat?
Netizens' evaluations are quite positive:
But looking at the comment sections on major platforms such as X and Video Accounts, the general sentiment of netizens is like this:
We're glad that Unitree has launched a new robot, but we still want to ask, when will it be able to do laundry and housework?
One More Thing
At the end of the video, Unitree showed this scene:
Yes, you guessed it -
Leonardo da Vinci's famous work The Vitruvian Man (Uomo Vitruvianus).
The inspiration for this work comes from the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius' discussion on the golden ratio of the human body in De Architectura. It shows the idealized human body proportions through geometric composition. Therefore, later generations often use "perfect proportions" to describe the man in it.
Westworld also used this as a gimmick for its promotional poster:
Reference links:
[1]https://x.com/UnitreeRobotics/status/1980140278930661501
[2]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MCPen1iTQrJ1qRmsZ8ZPUQ
This article is from the WeChat official account "QbitAI", author: Heng Yu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.