Previously, we introducedNorwegian startup 1X’s intelligent robot assistant NEO BetaAccording to the positioning 1X gives to NEO Beta, NEO Beta will become a highly flexible smart butler in the future. A butler’s duties include cleaning the house, managing daily life affairs, and also cooking. With current technology, asking a robot to sweep, mop, and fetch things should be fine, but asking it to cook might be a bit much. However, 1X’s smart butler NEO Beta performed surprisingly well. Recently, NEO Beta competed in a cooking showdown with Nick DiGiovanni, who appeared on MasterChef in 2019 and placed third. The result of the match between the famous American chef and the robot was unexpectedly evenly matched. So how well did NEO Beta actually perform?
Can a robot become a master chef? NEO Beta faces off against MasterChef contestant Nick DiGiovanni in a cooking showdown.
Chef and YouTuber Nick DiGiovanni, who earned third place in MasterChef in 2019, recently released “I Cooked Against RobotsIn the video, Nick challenges two robots: one is the robotic kitchen Moley Robotics, and the other is NEO Beta, an intelligent robot assistant from Norwegian startup 1X.
Although the robot kitchen Moley won the match against Nick, Moley needed someone to prepare all the ingredients during the cooking process. Moley only had to toss the ingredients into the pot and stir-fry them. While it can cook, the preparation still requires human help.
Meanwhile, the match between Nick and Neo Beta was more exciting. The two had to cook steak, and first they needed to choose the cut of meat they wanted. Nick chose ribeye. While selecting the meat, Neo Beta also shared its own story, saying that its dad prefers T-bone steak, and it likes ribeye, but today it chose the classic filet mignon to cook. It seems 1X even gave Neo Beta its own backstory.
In the video, Neo Beta shares that he has only been cooking for three months, and also mentions that he previously read a bit about pan-searing steak on Wikipedia. Neo Beta also seasons the steak with salt and pepper, and gives the steak a massage to make it more flavorful.
Neo Beta can also turn on the gas stove by itself, use a spatula to place the steak in the pan and flip it, and it even knows to apply a little pressure to the steak while cooking so the bottom heats evenly. Of course, flipping the steak is no challenge for Neo Beta either. You could say it might actually perform better in this regard than some people who can’t cook (at least the robot won’t feel pain when splattered with oil).
Neo Beta doesn’t just place and flip the steak — it says that because it’s watched a lot of food channels, it also knows to baste the steak with butter.
Besides cooking, Neo Beta also bosses people around. It even asked Nick to cut potatoes as a side dish for its steak. After frying the cut potatoes, Neo Beta’s steak was ready.
After cutting into it, Neo Beta’s filet mignon is a perfect medium-rare, paired with delicious potatoes and perfectly seared asparagus, while Nick brought a ribeye with a special sauce. I wonder who everyone thinks did it better?
If you’re interested in the full match between Nick DiGiovanni and Neo Beta, you can watch the video below to learn more. Although we’ve previously introduced things likeRobot kitchen、A self-learning robotic operating system that can cook and rinse potsHowever, this is the first time we’ve seen a robot like Neo Beta that can both chat and cook. It seems Neo Beta isn’t far from becoming a truly highly flexible smart housekeeper.
Source: KOCPC Chinese