Robot disguised as bedside lamp goes viral for folding laundry

In a clip recently posted, Tan introduced Lume, a robot disguised as a pair of tall bedside lamps that quietly bend down and extend robotic fingers to fold blankets. The 31-second video quickly amassed 3.8 million views within 48 hours, according to the San Francisco Standard.

The design was praised for its aesthetics, with a caption describing it as "first robot designed to fit naturally into your home and help with chores." In the video, a woman drops a pile of blankets onto her bed before the lamps unsheathe robotic claws and delicately fold the fabrics, as reported by Futurism.

However, Tan later clarified that the footage was created using CGI, although he confirmed that a physical prototype does exist. "It’s a render, a 3D model that we built to paint a picture of how we think robots can fit into the home," he told the San Francisco Standard. "It’s made to look aesthetically pleasing."

Tan said he was inspired by the animated film "Beauty and the Beast", in which household furniture comes to life. He said his vision is to create "ambient robotics" that work discreetly in the background. "Our overall mission is to build robots in a way that blends beautifully into a personal space," he said.

He added that laundry was selected over other household tasks because he "absolutely" hates doing it, and surveys conducted by his team found that laundry consistently ranked among the top two most disliked chores, alongside cooking.

Robot disguised as bedside lamp goes viral for folding laundry Robot disguised as bedside lamp goes viral for folding laundry

A video showing Lume, the robotic bedside lamp, folds laundry. Video courtesy of Aaron Tan's X

While some online users suggested the robot could be adapted for adult uses or massage functions, he rejected such ideas, noting his team remains cautious regarding human interaction.

"Anything with human contact and you’re venturing into a realm where, if it malfunctions, worst-case scenario, you hurt someone," he said. "So we’re being careful."

Tan said he aims to price the product at under US$2,000 and plans to begin shipping in 2026. He also stated that thousands of preorders have already been placed.

On Thursday Brett Adcock, CEO of Figure AI, posted a video on social media showing the company’s humanoid robot, Figure 02, performing a laundry task by placing clothes into a washing machine. The footage drew widespread enthusiasm, according to Interesting Engineering.

Despite the optimism for the humanoid helper, Tan emphasized that his team is taking a different approach. "We didn't want the robot to freely roam. We want the robot to be static, whether it’s next to your bed or a couch in the living room," he said.

"We don't want to equip it with super intelligence. It shouldn't have general knowledge about the world.

"It should just have knowledge about the task that it needs to do, and for us, it's laundry folding," he told the San Francisco Standard.