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Make robot motions natural

Humanoid machines should move and gesture more like us, argues Amy LaViers.
  1. Amy LaViers

    1. Amy LaViers is the director of the Robotics, Automation, and Dance (RAD) Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA.

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Man performing a dance with a robot

Ballet dancer Gaël Rougegrez in Robot, directed by Blanca Li at London’s Barbican Theatre in February 2017. Credit: Ian Gavan/Getty

Should a robotic nurse jab a person’s arm as quickly and precisely as possible? Or should it contrast the precision of a rapid needle insertion with the heavy pressure of a cotton swab on the wound to lessen our discomfort and fear of the needle, as a real nurse would?

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Nature 565, 422-424 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00211-z

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Competing Interests

A.L. is a co-founder and part-owner of AE Machines, Inc. and CAAII, LLC.

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