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As a roboticist,
I get asked a lot of questions.
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"When we will they start
serving me breakfast?"
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So I thought the future of robotics
would be looking more like us.
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I thought they would look like me,
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so I built eyes
that would simulate my eyes.
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I built fingers that are dextrous
enough to serve me ...
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baseballs.
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Classical robots like this
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are built and become functional
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based on the fixed number
of joints and actuators.
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And this means their functionality
and shape are already fixed
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at the moment of their conception.
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So even though this arm
has a really nice throw --
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it even hit the tripod at the end--
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it's not meant for cooking you
breakfast per se.
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It's not really suited for scrambled eggs.
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So this was when I was hit
by a new vision of future robotics:
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the transformers.
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They drive, they run, they fly,
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all depending on the ever-changing
new environment and task at hand.
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To make this a reality,
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you really have to rethink
how robots are designed.
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So, imagine a robotic module
in a polygon shape
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and using that simple polygon shape
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to reconstruct multiple different forms
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to create a new form of robot
for different tasks.
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In CG, computer graphics,
it's not any news --
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it's been done for a while, and that's how
most of the movies are made.
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But if you're trying to make a robot
that's physically moving,
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it's a completely new story.
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It's a completely new paradigm.
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But you've all done this.
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Who hasn't made a paper airplane,
paper boat, paper crane?
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Origami is a versatile
platform for designers.
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From a single sheet of paper,
you can make multiple shapes,
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and if you don't like it,
you unfold and fold back again.
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Any 3D form can be made
from 2D surfaces by folding,
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and this is proven mathematically.
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And imagine if you were to have
an intelligent sheet
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that can self-fold into any form it wants,
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anytime.
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And that's what I've been working on.
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I call this robotic origami
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"robogami."
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This is our first robogami transformation
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that was made by me about 10 years ago.
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From a flat-sheeted robot,
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it turns into a pyramid
and back into a flat sheet
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and into a space shuttle.
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Quite cute.
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Ten years later, with my group
of ninja origami robotic researchers --
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about 22 of them right now --
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we have a new generation of robogamis,
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and they're a little more effective
and they do more than that.
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So the new generation of robogamis
actually serve a purpose.
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For example, this one actually navigates
through different terrains autonomously.
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So when it's a dry
and flat land, it crawls.
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And if it meets sudden rough terrain,
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it starts rolling.
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It does this -- it's the same robot --
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but depending on which terrain it meets,
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it activates a different sequence
of actuators that's on board.
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And once it meets an obstacle,
it jumps over it.
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It does this by storing energy
in each of its legs
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and releasing it and catapulting
like a slingshot.
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And it even does gymnastics.
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Yay.
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(Laughter)
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So I just showed you
what a single robogami can do.
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Imagine what they can do as a group.
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They can join forces to tackle
more complex tasks.
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Each module, either active or passive,
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we can assemble them
to create different shapes.
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Not only that, by controlling
the folding joints,
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we're able to create and attack
different tasks.
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The form is making new task space.
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And this time, what's most
important is the assembly.
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They need to autonomously
find each other in a different space,
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attach and detach, depending on
the environment and task.
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And we can do this now.
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So what's next?
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Our imagination.
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This is a simulation
of what you can achieve
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with this type of module.
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We decided that we were going
to have a four-legged crawler
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turn into a little dog
and make small gaits.
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With the same module, we can actually
make it do something else:
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a manipulator, a typical,
classical robotic task.
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So with a manipulator,
it can pick up an object.
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Of course, you can add more modules
to make the manipulator legs longer
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to attack or pick up objects
that are bigger or smaller,
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or even have a third arm.
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For robogamis, there's no
one fixed shape nor task.
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They can transform into anything
anywhere, anytime.
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So how do you make them?
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The biggest technical challenge
of robogami is keeping them super thin,
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flexible,
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but still remaining functional.
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They're composed of multiple layers
of circuits, motors,
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microcontrollers and sensors,
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all in the single body,
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and when you control
individual folding joints,
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you'll be able to achieve
soft motions like that
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upon your command.
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Instead of being a single robot that is
specifically made for a single task,
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robogamis are optimized to do multi-tasks.
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And this is quite important
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for the difficult and unique
environments on the Earth
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as well as in space.
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Space is a perfect
environment for robogamis.
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You cannot afford to have
one robot for one task.
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Who knows how many tasks
you will encounter in space?
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What you want is a single robotic platform
that can transform to do multi-tasks.
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What we want is a deck
of thin robogami modules
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that can transform to do multiples
of performing tasks.
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And don't take my word for it,
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because the European Space Agency
and Swiss Space Center
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are sponsoring this exact concept.
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So here you see a couple of images
of reconfiguration of robogamis,
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exploring the foreign land
aboveground, on the surface,
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as well as digging into the surface.
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It's not just exploration.
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For astronauts, they need additional help,
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because you cannot afford
to bring interns up there, either.
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(Laughter)
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They have to do every tedious task.
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They may be simple,
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but super interactive.
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So you need robots
to facilitate their experiments,
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assisting them with the communications
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and just docking onto surfaces to be
their third arm holding different tools.
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But how will they be able
to control robogamis, for example,
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outside the space station?
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In this case, I show a robogami
that is holding space debris.
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You can work with your vision
so that you can control them,
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but what would be better
is having the sensation of touch
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directly transported onto
the hands of the astronauts.
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And what you need is a haptic device,
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a haptic interface that recreates
the sensation of touch.
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And using robogamis, we can do this.
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This is the world's
smallest haptic interface
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that can recreate a sensation of touch
just underneath your fingertip.
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We do this by moving the robogami
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by microscopic and macroscopic
movements at the stage.
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And by having this, not only
will you be able to feel
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how big the object is,
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the roundness and the lines,
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but also the stiffness and the texture.
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Alex has this interface
just underneath his thumb,
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and if he were to use this
with VR goggles and hand controllers,
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now the virtual reality
is no longer virtual.
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It becomes a tangible reality.
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The blue ball, red ball
and black ball that he's looking at
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is no longer differentiated by colors.
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Now it is a rubber blue ball,
sponge red ball, and billiard black ball.
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This is now possible.
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Let me show you.
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This is really the first time
this is shown live
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in front of a public grand audience,
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so hopefully this works.
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So what you see here
is an atlas of anatomy
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and the robogami haptic interface.
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So, like all the other
reconfigurable robots,
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it multitasks.
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Not only is it going to serve as a mouse,
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but also a haptic interface.
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So for example, we have a white background
where there is no object.
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That means there is nothing to feel,
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so we can have a very,
very flexible interface.
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Now, I use this as a mouse
to approach skin,
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a muscular arm,
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so now let's feel his biceps,
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or shoulders.
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So now you see
how much stiffer it becomes.
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Let's explore even more.
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Let's approach the ribcage.
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And as soon as I move
on top of the ribcage
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and between the intercostal muscles,
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which is softer and harder,
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I can feel the difference
of the stiffness.
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Take my word for it.
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So now you see, it's much stiffer
in terms of the force
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it's giving back to my fingertip.
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So I showed you the surfaces
that aren't moving.
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How about if I were to approach
something that moves,
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for example, like a beating heart?
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What would I feel?
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(Applause)
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This can be your beating heart.
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This can actually be inside your pocket
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while you're shopping online.
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Now you'll be able to feel the difference
of the sweater that you're buying,
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how soft it is,
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if it's actually cashmere or not,
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or the bagel that you're trying to buy,
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how hard it is or how crispy it is.
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This is now possible.
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The robotics technology is advancing
to be more personalized and adaptive,
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to adapt to our everyday needs.
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This unique specie
of reconfigurable robotics
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is actually the platform to provide
this invisible, intuitive interface
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to meet our exact needs.
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These robots will no longer look like
the characters from the movies.
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Instead, they will be whatever
you want them to be.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)