The Best Inventions Of The Year

From the phone that has changed phones forever, to futuristic cars, to a building made of water, to a remote-controlled dragonfly—a dazzling display of ingenuity

By Maryanne Murray Buechner, Kristina Dell, Andrea Dorfman, Lev Grossman, Anita Hamilton, Rebecca Winters Keegan, Jeffrey Kluger, Michael D. Lemonick, Coco Masters, Lisa McLaughlin, Alice Park, Julie Rawe and Deirdre van Dyk

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Even a garden-variety robot can memorize specific tasks. What sets Domo apart is its ability to recognize people and to sense and respond to its surroundings. Created by MIT's Aaron Edsinger and Jeff Weber, the bot can grasp your hands when you touch its spring-loaded ones and can place a cup on a counter. Its fine-tuned, eerily human eyes can see who's watching too.
Available: Prototype
people.csail.mit.edu/edsinger/domo.htm

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