BerkeleyBionics Gives Paralyzed Woman Her Legs Back

eLEGS is a unique exoskeleton for general consumers designed to allow wheelchair-bound folks to walk. The product, based on some early work at the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering lab. In this video, a nearly paralyzed young woman walks again after 18 years.

The company, BerkeleyBionics, is holding a press conference today at 10:30am PST to reveal some new products. However, I think the video says it all, however. To quote Paul Simon, this is the age of miracles and wonder. It’s quite hard to be cynical about this technology when it can do so much for so many.

We’ll keep our eye on the site today and see what’s coming next from these guys. Amazing stuff.

UPDATE – Sorry, the genius PR lady took down the video. Here’s the unwatchable stream of their press conference.

Watch live streaming video from berkeleybionics at livestream.com

CEATEC 2010: Hands-on With Fujitsu’s “Social” Teddy Bear Robots (Video)

One thing that’s really missing at this year’s CEATEC 2010 exhibition is robots, at least from the bigger companies. One exception is Fujitsu whose so-called “Social Robots” may not look like much from the outside but are actually quite sophisticated. Even though the teddy bear robots sounded pretty creepy (they keep making weird noises, which you can hear in the video embedded below), I was brave enough for a hands-on test.

I was surprised how responsive the robots actually are. It takes just a split second to detect the presence of a human being (the bears have a sensor for that built into their nose) and after that, it’s possible for them to interact and “communicate” with humans through face recognition and constant tracking of the position of the human conversation partner.

Depending on how you behave, the bear reacts differently: it laughs, waves its paws, moves its feet etc. (the robot are hundreds of pre-programmed patterns of behavior). The bears are equipped with 12 joints, multiple touch sensors, microphones, speakers, and accelerometers.

Just like the famous (and much cuter) robo seal Paro, the goal here is to sell the robots to nursing homes and schools.

Here’s the video I shot at Fujitsu’s CEATEC booth:

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GUESTS

Gregory Chin is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and is involved in CIGI's China and World Economy and BRICSAM Economic Diplomacy Projects. He also teaches at York University.

Daniel W. Drezner is professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is the author of All Politics is Global: Explaining International Regulatory Regimes. Visit danieldrezner.com.

Peter Harder is senior policy advisor to Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. He has served in a number of federal departments including Treasury Board, Solicitor General, Citizenship and Immigration, Industry, and Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Suisheng Zhao is Professor and Executive Director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Contemporary China.