Walking through the hall of robotics at the world's largest technology fair you would be forgiven for thinking you had stepped back in time.
For an event that is meant to showcase the world's best technological innovations, this year's Consumer Electronics Show's robots hall was filled with uninspired creations made from white plastic that do less than the average smartphone and could have been designed in the last century.
Many of the robots on show just gave a human form to tablets and intelligent speakers with the added (but useless) ability of moving around and dancing.
In some cases, the robots were able to perform additional tasks such as picking things up, but in the main it was hard to find one that was more than simply an iPad that can follow its owner around. Despite this, many have proclaimed that robotics won the show at CES 2017.
"2017 will be the year of the robo-butlers", declared Wired. While USA Today said robots "stole the show" as the "coolest thing from this year's CES".
The International Robotics Federation forecasts households across the world will have purchased around 35 million domestic and personal robots by next year. That's the same number of smart wristbands, such as those made by Fitbit and other companies, consumers snapped up in 2016, according to Gartner. Meanwhile market research company IDC estimates the consumer robotics industry will reach US$6.5bn by 2020.
But, as we start 2017, it's hard to see how household robots are going to fulfil such lofty predictions. Science fiction has long promised robots that can control our homes, organise our lives and offer emotional companionship. But despite the billions of dollars invested in creating such machines, it would appear we are still some way off.
"Personal robots, especially humanoids, are at the crossroads of technology trends - such as artificial intelligence, voice-based assistants and the internet of things - and resonate with consumers as something very futuristic," said Thomas Husson, vice president and consumer electronics analyst at Forrester.
"In Japan, South Korea and increasingly China, robots are moving away from just being used in the industrial space to entering retail and homes. But it's still in the early days."
Robots with realistic human features will be the ones that attract buyers, according to Husson, such as Kuri, a cute automoton from Mayfield Robotics. "The most interesting element at CES concerning robots was the ability for some of them to try to understand human emotions through multiple sensors," he said.
Kuri is designed as a home help that uses its eyes to display emotion. Its skills include the ability to tell parents when their children get home from school, read bedtime stories, show owners what's happening at home when they're out, and follow them around.
But it also shows that home robots aren't yet skilled enough. It can't control smart home devices - unlike LG's Hub robot, which can turn on a washing machine and control autonomous hoovers and lawn mowers. And it doesn't have arms or hands, meaning it can't offer much assistance as it follows its owner about. Given that it offers little more than a phone or security camera, it will be hard to justify Kuri's US$699 price tag.
The shortfalls of Kuri were evident in other robots at CES, which could do little more than blink, twitter amicably and move vaguely like people.
That said, this year's robots did have one major advancement: being fitted with AI assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa and Google's Home. LG's Hub was one of the standout Alexa-based robots, as were the Olly speaker and Ubtech's range of products.
Ubtech's fleet of Amazon-powered machines included the humanoid Lynx robot that interacts with expressions that alter depending on the owner's mood. The Lynx can also move its arms and legs, with skills that include dancing, taking a photo and doing a workout. Also from Ubtech was Cruzr, which is designed for businesses and can interact through Alexa and a screen, as well as shake hands, hug people and dance.
LG has not said how much the Hub will cost, but the Lynx could be as much as US$1000 when it is released later this year. With Amazon's Echo speaker available for $180, robotics companies will probably need to give their AI robots more than the ability to dance to entice customers.
Other elements of the perfect humanoid domestic robot, which could be combined with AI to create a convincing robo-butler, were on display at CES. For example, there were numerous robotic arms that can perform dexterous tasks such as making a cup of coffee or tea. There was also a helpful robot that can clean a barbecue grill autonomously, and a laundry folding machine.
Notably missing from the show was the Google-owned Boston Dynamics, which has designed numerous robots that can help in the home. For example, the four-legged SpotMini robotic dog can unload the dishwasher, bring its owner a drink, stand up when it falls and climb stairs.
If home-help robots are to become a multi-billion dollar industry, tech companies will need to combine this dexterity with intelligence and voice recognition. If they continue to simply produce white, plastic, dancing robots that are vaguely shaped like humans it is hard to see how 35 million of the machines will enter our homes by next year.
Telegraph, London