Part of the reason people like to stare at babies is that they’re edge cases. It’s hard to believe something so small could actually be human. Robots are sort of the same way. They’re obviously mechanical, but sometimes they can also seem so…well, human.
That’s certainly the case with several of the robots made by companies taking part in next week’s Xconomy forum, The Future of Robotics in Silicon Valley and Beyond. To see what I mean, just watch the video below, which shows a “compliant” robot hand manufactured by Meka Robotics in San Francisco. Even without the perky music, it’s easy to anthropomorphize the robot in the video and imagine that it (she? he?) isn’t simply sensing the person’s hand when the two shake hands, but feeling it.
To further whet your appetite for our event—which will take place next Thursday, May 3, at SRI International in Menlo Park, CA—we’ve got a baker’s dozen videos and photos showing robots made by participating companies. A big thank you to Meka Robotics, Willow Garage, SRI, Grabit, Liquid Robotics, and Kiva Systems for supplying the images, and thanks also to Xconomy marketing whiz Thea Bissell for doing the photo research. Enjoy the slide show, and we’ll see you next week. (You can check out the full agenda for the event here.)
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Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
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