More humanoids in 2021? Hanson robotics, the company who developed Sophia, talks about its plans for this year

Sophia, developed by Hong-Kong based company Hanson Robotics, is a social humanoid who has been around since 2016. Hanson Robotics has recently revealed its ambitious new plans for 2021- and they involve more humanoids.

According to Reuters, the company said four models, including Sophia, would start rolling out of factories in the first half of 2021, just as researchers predict the pandemic will open new opportunities for the robotics industry.

“The world of COVID-19 is going to need more and more automation to keep people safe,” founder and chief executive David Hanson said, standing surrounded by robot heads in his lab.

Hanson believes that a pandemic not only opens up opportunities to use humanoids and advanced AI in healthcare but also could assist customers in industries such as retail and airlines too.

A lot of experts believe that although this kind of technology is still in its birthing stage, the pandemic may accelerate the relationship between humans and robots, and increase our dependency on them. Although this should not come as a surprise. The use of robots was on the rise before the pandemic. According to a report by the International Federation of Robotics, worldwide sales of professional-service robots had already jumped 32% to $11.2 billion between 2018 and 2019.

Hanson Robotics is launching a robot this year called Grace, developed for the healthcare sector.