Twitter/Alan Boyle
- Jeff Bezos demonstrated a pair of remote-controlled robotic hands at Amazon’s robotics conference.
- He was able to perform surprisingly dexterous tasks like stacking cups.
- When asked if he could solve a Rubik’s cube, Bezos said he couldn’t do it even with his regular human hands.
- The robotic hands not only imitate the movements of the person operating them, they also provide haptic feedback, transmitting the feeling of touch.
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Jeff Bezos took control of a pair of giant, remote-controlled robot hands on Wednesday at Amazon’s robotics conference re:MARS in Las Vegas.
Geekwire journalist Alan Boyle tweeted a video of the tech billionaire using the hands to stack cups and pass a ball from one hand to the other with impressive delicacy. After being passed a Rubik’s Cube Bezos responded: "No thank you, I can’t even do that with my hands."
The hands don’t just mirror the movement of the person wearing the gloves, they’re able to transmit the feeling of touch back to the user, known as haptic or tactile feedback. Bezos said the feedback was "really tremendous," and that using them felt "weirdly natural."
The robot was an exhibit by two companies, Shadow Robot and HaptX. Shadow Robot specialises in building dextrous robotic hands and is partnered with OpenAI, the AI research organisation cofounded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. HaptX develops technology for giving people the sensation of touch for remotely operated robotics, as well as VR.
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Isobel Asher Hamilton)