Neo robot hands can build LEGOs, unzip jackets, and open a bag of Funyuns — I can't tell if I'm thrilled or terrified

Neo Beta robot hands have human-level dexterity They use tendon-like controls instead of in-hand motors They're waterproof and can perform many skills normally reserved for human hands Neo's new robot hands are so good and lifelike, you might assume that they're gloved human hands, and then you might wonder why someone is swinging a hammer at them. In a new demo video recently released on YouTube by Neo Beta robot parent company 1X, you can watch a pair of Neo Hands screw in a lightbulb and pull the chain switch (before someone inexplicably shatters the bulb with a hammer), pluck grapes off a bunch and drop each one in a container, carefully pickup a screw, unzip a jacket (a bit creepy), and even open a small bag of Funyuns onion ring snacks . In that last bit, someone swings a hammer at the hands while they work, which they pay no mind to, before the bag is unsealed. It even expertly builds a small Lego stack. Okay, okay, they're the larger Duplo blocks, but it still does as good a job as your average kindergartner. The hands move slowly but also with a grace and ease you might mistake for humanness. This appears to be down to the underlying technology. As 1X described it, the rubber-covered, waterproof hands use a "closed-loop tendon-driven system". This means that 1X moves the motors or servos out of the hand and back along the arm, which keeps the hand smaller and more supple. Those motors are then connected to an intricate system of tendon-like connectors that are pulled and released to enable the robot hands' movement and manipulation. That style of control more closely resembles our own hands, which, while including muscle, are also filled with tendons that are pulled inside the forearm. 1X says the fingers, palm, and thumb have 25 degrees of freedom, but, as evidenced in the video, they can also over-extend backward in a rather unnatural or certainly more-than-human way. The robot hands feature some impressive strength, too, lifting a 20 lb. dumbbell and the