Technology really has come far. While there aren't the flying cars that some optimistic people were predicting back in the '80s, if you were to tell them some of the advances we've made, their jaws would be on the floor anyway.
Think about it - fully autonomous robots that can move like humans. Well, this robot isn't like the others, but it looks like something out of a movie.
Not just any movie... that creepy little hand that scutters about, from the Addams Family, or more recently, Wednesday.
As reported by the New York Post, the hand is completely capable of a lot of the things your own hand can do. It can move blocks, type on a keyboard, and even pick itself back up in case it gets knocked down.
It was produced by ETH Zurich's Soft Robotics Lab. (For the record, yes, they were inspired by The Thing from Addams Family.)
An engineer who helped create the robot hand, Amirhossein Kazemipour, said that there was some serious merit in the project.
The hand has "some independence" outside of a larger body, making it unique. Compare it to those massive Boston Dynamics humanoid robots - the hand doesn't need legs, after all.
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The Robot Hand Could Have Genuinely Innovative Uses
You're probably thinking that this whole thing is an impressive feat of engineering - me too. But how can it be used in the real world?
Well, Kazemipour as well as the other researchers say it could be used for those who might have issues with grabbing objects themselves.
Whether they're bed-bound or have neurological problems, it might be able to give people a new lease on life. In their words, "Giving robotic hands their own mobility could make future robots more versatile in the spaces and interfaces built for people."
They added that the hand "could move toward a control or object, interact with it, and return for retrieval." Other than that, they've been quite cagey about all the cool things it might be able to do.
Its most impressive achievement so far is playing the arcade puzzle Sokoban, and getting pretty good at it.
Who's excited for the future of robo-Things?
