July 15, 2011 03:59 am EDT

Robots for Humanity help around the house, scratch your itch (video)

Robots for Humanity? That certainly doesn't jibe with our notion of the upcoming cyborg apocalypse. And it shouldn't, considering this joint effort's noble aim is to assist the disabled with the everyday household chores most of us take for granted. The project, a collaboration between Willow Garage and Georgia Tech's Healthcare Robotics Lab, has been working with stroke victim Henry Evans to develop custom UIs that give him mastery of the human-assistive PR2 robot. These tailor-made, head-tracking interfaces have allowed the mute quadriplegic to partially shave his face and even scratch a previously unreachable ten-year itch -- all with the helping claw of the friendly bot. It's a compassionate use of cybernetic tech we're used to seeing come out of Japan, and a welcome assist for disabled communities everywhere. Click past the break for a video demo of Henry and his robotic pal.

Continue reading Robots for Humanity help around the house, scratch your itch (video)

Robots for Humanity help around the house, scratch your itch (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Willow Garage ||Comments

Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/14/robots-for-humanity-help-around-the-house-scratch-your-itch-vi/

View Full Article

Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

More About this Source Visit Engadget