Figure 03 might be the home robot that changes everything – if it ever goes on sale (www.techradar.com)

Figure AI unveiled Figure 03, a redesigned five-foot-six home humanoid that demonstrates more refined manipulation and household tasks—cleaning, folding laundry, loading a dishwasher, serving and playing with a dog—while earning a Time Magazine Best Innovations nod. The robot’s body is mostly covered in soft mesh and foam-lined joints for safer interactions; its hands are fully articulated, fabric-covered, and include palm-wide-angle cameras plus new fingertip tactile sensors. Figure 03 is 9% lighter for better maneuverability, walks off a wireless charging dock, runs about five hours per charge, and moves cautiously (~2.6 mph)—slow by design for safety—though factory demonstrations hint at faster operation. For the AI/ML community the significance is twofold: Figure 03 is a practical example of generative-AI-driven robotics, combining “vision-language-action” stacks using OpenAI models and NVIDIA robotics tooling to map spoken commands to perception and complex manipulation; and it shows how integrated tactile sensing and per-hand cameras materially improve real-world dexterity. Key implications include the need for multimodal training (vision, touch, language), safer control policies for close human proximity, and substantial productization challenges—no delivery timeline or pricing (likely tens of thousands) has been announced, and consumer readiness remains uncertain despite rapid progress.