A crab has gone viral.
"Jumper" from KingKong Technology, covered in bright orange with six legs and two crab claws, has two small screens for eyes and dances to trending TikTok songs with perfect timing. From WAIC to WRC and then to the TikTok Creator Conference, it has made three appearances, trended on hot searches four times, garnered over 10 million views on a single video, and been featured by CCTV... Netizens have assigned it a bunch of "new jobs": turning it into a mobile Wi-Fi router, having it tease cats, and making it pick up deliveries.
It is very much like the duck from a few months ago. The Microduck, produced by Pollen Robotics under Hugging Face, is priced at USD 399. Orders are so explosive that delivery takes half a year, and there are even rumors that "one is sold every 4 seconds."
Everyone is waiting for humanoid robots to enter their homes, so why are the duck and the crab the ones that went viral first?
Let's first lay out the parameters and skills of both on the table:
Looking at the parameters and skills, neither of them can do any heavy lifting. So why did they go viral?
They first went viral for "emotional appeal," and then for the "low barrier to entry."
First, it gives people a stepping stone. Humanoid robots are tall, expensive, and can easily make people feel unfamiliar and vigilant. A palm-sized duck and crab that can act cute and dance feel naturally approachable. The public's first reaction to robots has shifted from "vigilance" to "wanting to raise one." This is a victory of emotional value.
Second, it slashes the development barrier to the floor. Both are open-source, can run in simulation environments, and allow action debugging without physical machines. Ordinary people can use AI to choreograph dances, add skills, and even train "their own crab" with their own hands. Only when it is affordable to play with can derivative content be created; only with derivative content can viral spread occur.
Third, it conveniently collects real-world data. Netizens spontaneously film and create derivative content, piling up massive interactive scenarios on short video platforms, which in turn feed the algorithm iterations. The more they play, the smarter it gets; the smarter it gets, the more fun it is. This is a vivid positive data feedback loop.
Fourth, it is cheap. A duck costs USD 399, which ordinary people can afford if they stretch their budget. Humanoid robots cost hundreds of thousands of CNY, leaving ordinary people with no choice but to watch from the sidelines.
So the answer is clear: the industry has placed too many expectations on humanoid robots, but the first stop for home implementation has been blazed by a duck and a crab.
But this does not mean humanoid robots are out of the game. To bring humanoid robots into thousands of households, the public must first be able to touch, play with, and fall in love with robots. Play first, then become powerful — the duck and the crab are teaching this very lesson to the entire industry.
This article is compiled based on publicly available online information and is for reference only, not constituting investment advice.