Dobot’s Humanoid Robot Uses VR to Cook Steak from 1,800km Away

What if your dinner was made by a robot – not just an automated appliance, but a full-fledged humanoid replicating a chef's gestures in real time, even sprinkling salt with its fingers? Now, what if that robot was being controlled by someone sitting 1,800 kilometers away? That futuristic idea just became a present-day reality, thanks to a groundbreaking demonstration by Chinese robotics company Shenzhen Dobot.

On Friday, Dobot released a video on its official WeChat account that stunned tech enthusiasts and scientists alike. The clip showed a humanoid robot named Dobot Atom expertly cooking a steak – dabbing it dry, pouring oil, flipping it neatly, and even garnishing it with salt – all in a well-equipped kitchen in China’s eastern Shandong province. The real twist? The robot wasn’t working autonomously. It was being controlled remotely from Guangdong province, nearly 1,800 kilometers away, by a human operator wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset.

The operator’s hand gestures, captured by the VR system, were transmitted in real time to Dobot Atom, which mimicked the movements with startling accuracy. Every action, from grasping kitchen tools to delicately flipping the steak, was guided by the human behind the screen – as if their arms had reached across the country through the machine.

The feat marks a significant leap in the field of telepresence robotics, where physical robots in one location are controlled by humans in another using advanced interfaces. According to Dobot, the system currently controls only the robot’s upper body, but with an impressive precision of 0.05 millimeters, it is capable of handling delicate, human-like tasks. The video demonstration wasn’t just about cooking – it was a statement of possibility: if a robot can replicate such nuanced gestures from afar in a kitchen, it could do the same in operating theatres, space stations, or even hazardous industrial zones.

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This isn’t Dobot’s first foray into robotics, but it may be its most attention-grabbing. Founded in 2015, the company initially focused on robotic arms used in industrial automation. But in recent years, Dobot has expanded into humanoid robots – a field still in its early days globally. In March 2025, Dobot unveiled its first full-body humanoid, Dobot Atom, equipped with five-fingered dexterous hands, stereo vision, and a human-like walking gait.

Earlier videos from the company showed Atom performing household tasks like laying out breakfast – placing toast and fruit on plates and pouring milk with steadiness. But the recent cooking demonstration takes the robot’s capability several notches higher, especially in proving remote operability with real-world utility.

The importance of such a development goes beyond wow-factor. Telepresence robots like Atom could transform high-risk professions, enabling experts to operate safely from afar. Imagine a surgeon performing a procedure from a different city or a technician inspecting a radioactive reactor from a safe distance. It also opens possibilities for elderly care, domestic help, and outer space exploration, where deploying human workers is either too risky or physically impossible.

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NASA has previously explored similar ideas. In 2022, the agency revealed it had developed a method to remotely operate its Valkyrie humanoid robot using VR controls. However, it hadn’t clearly addressed the technical challenges of managing latency over long distances or achieving high precision in real-world tasks. Dobot’s steak-cooking robot seems to have leapt ahead by demonstrating smooth, near real-time responsiveness over a vast geographic gap.

Following the release of the video, Dobot’s stock rose nearly 3%, closing at HK$55.60 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, signaling growing investor confidence. The robot, priced at 199,000 yuan (about US$27,500), has already begun global deliveries, with Japan receiving the first batch last week. This positions Dobot among the very few Chinese firms to reach mass production in the humanoid robotics space.

According to a TrendForce report from April, 11 Chinese robotics firms launched mass production efforts for humanoids in 2024, with six of them planning to produce more than 1,000 units this year. Dobot’s momentum shows it is not only leading in innovation but also in commercial scaling – a crucial factor for real-world adoption. Reported my news

Industry observers see this development as a tipping point for human-robot interaction. The Dobot Atom isn’t autonomous AI, but its human-guided interface means people can still be in control while letting robots do the physical labor. In sectors where human presence is difficult or risky, such hybrid collaboration could become the new normal.

As communication networks like 5G and future 6G evolve, latency issues will reduce further, enabling seamless remote robot control over even greater distances. Experts now envision a future where a doctor in London could conduct surgery in Lagos, or an engineer in Bengaluru could service machines on the Moon – all through humanoid telepresence.

For now, Dobot has served us more than just a sizzling steak – it’s delivered a taste of what tomorrow looks like.