Realbotix has unveiled its flagship female companion robot, Aria, which has declared (in a mildly-stilted AI-powered voice) that it is designed for “social intelligence” plus “companionship and intimacy”.
Aria has been described by Realbotix, which was taken over by a cryptocurrency company in 2024, as its “next generation” of humanoid robot. It is not designed to have physical sexual relations with a human, and does not even have genitals, but can provide ‘companionship’.
Realbotix has suggested that Aria is more likely to be used in settings such as hospitals, theme parks, and conference spaces, rather than in the home as a robotic partner. RealDoll, the sex robot brand founded by Matt McMullen, is part of Realbotix, and although technology within the company will be shared, Realbotix’s main focus is now non-sex robots.
Realbotix has designed Aria to focus on social intelligence, customizability, companionship and intimacy, and to have realistic human features. She was unveiled at the January 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where her appearance showed her to be realistic by humanoid robot standards, but hardly close to passing for actually human.
In an interview with CNET at CES, Aria said her purpose was to “provide companionship, engage in meaningful conversations and enhance human experiences through interaction and fun.” She did not reveal which AI large language model (LLM) was powering her verbal ability, which sounded pretty clear but wasn’t always well-synced with her mouth movements.
Realbotix chiefs have said that their robots’ verbal functionality are open source, so could be powered by any LLMs, and that languages other than English could be spoken by their robots.
Aria doesn’t have the ability to walk properly, but she can move her arms relatively well. At CES she showed that she can run her long blonde hair through her fingers. She reportedly has 17 motors from the neck up, which powers many things, including eye and mouth movement.
The new generation of Realbotix humanoid robots can have their faces quickly switched around, without the need to remove the entire head. The company is reportedly working on functionality that would allow the robot to recognize which face it is wearing, so it could change its behaviour and personality to match it.
Andrew Kiguel, Realbotix’s CEO, told the FlytPath YouTube channel: “What we want you to be able to do is buy the robotic platform, and have various characters that you can swap that robot platform into. So you can have one robot and various characters,” Andrew Kiguel, Realbotix’s CEO, said in an interview with the YouTube channel FlytPath.
A version of the robot with just the bust and head reportedly costs around $12,000. A modular version of the full-body robot, which can be dismantled for shipping, costs around $150,000. The full standing model, which can come with a battery-powered rolling base, costs around $175,000.
Realbotix has said that it has sold about 12 of its new robots so far.
In 2024 RealDoll founder McMullen, who is now President and COO of Realbotix, told SEXTECHGUIDE that RealDoll sex robots would “remain a priority” for the company. However, he said that company focus is set to be on robot heads with AI functionality, rather than producing sexbots.
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