0:00:00 > 0:00:01in the operation.
0:00:01 > 0:00:02In a moment, we'll have Newswatch.
0:00:02 > 0:00:30But first, here's Click.
0:00:30 > 0:00:31Another day, another tight, black suit.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Torso is live...
0:00:32 > 0:00:37Torso is live.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Stretch your arm behind you as far as it goes.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42I'm having my motion captured, but not like that, nurse.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45This is a prototype of a system that doctors may one day to assess
0:00:45 > 0:00:48patients who have limited mobility, who can't use their limbs fully.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51And that's with a view to building them their own own robotic arm!
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Im' at The Human Assistive Robotic Technology Lab, that's the
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Heart Lab, at the University of Berkley near San Francisco.
0:00:56 > 0:01:10Oh, an interesting side note about this motion capture suit,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12it doesn't use those reflective balls we're so used to seeing.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15It uses LEDs which pulse at different speeds
0:01:15 > 0:01:17so they can be uniquely identified by tracking cameras.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20It makes tracking all the points in a 3D space easier, and it also makes
0:01:21 > 0:01:22me look like a Christmas tree.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25By doing this test they are not just measuring the motion of my limbs
0:01:25 > 0:01:27but also my centre of mass.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29They can see how my balance compensates
0:01:29 > 0:01:31as I move my arm, for example.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36And this doesn't have to be done at the doctors'.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38also be able to do this at home.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40The result is a sphere showing where the patient
0:01:40 > 0:01:41can reach and where they can't.
0:01:41 > 0:02:01And that will help design their own personal robotic limb.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04The most common loss of mobility is in the upper range.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06So you lose the ability to feed yourself, you lose
0:02:06 > 0:02:08the ability to brush your teeth.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11The main objective of this device is to move the shoulder, raise it up,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13to give you some assistance.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19This will assist your shoulder, give you increased range of motion.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20All right.
0:02:20 > 0:02:20Oh...
0:02:20 > 0:02:34LAUGHTER.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36It should be easier to move your shoulder up.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40This is to help those who can still move their limbs but need a bit
0:02:40 > 0:02:41of help to do it.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But there are those that cannot use their limbs at all.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48For that we need the kind of suit we are looking at across campus.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Being in a wheelchair, it is like being in a bubble.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54'Cause, I can come up to you, I don't care, but you might not
0:02:54 > 0:02:55want to be next to me.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59It is like, "I don't want to touch them or get in their way."
0:02:59 > 0:03:09Stephen broke his back in a BMX accident in 2004 when he was 17.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12He was instantly paralysed from the waist down and has been
0:03:12 > 0:03:13using a wheelchair ever since.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17But over the last three years he has been able to get up and walk
0:03:17 > 0:03:18for short periods of time.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Working with Suit X, he has been a test pilot for what this company
0:03:21 > 0:03:26hopes will be the world's lightest and most affordable exoskeleton.
0:03:26 > 0:03:27When I am wearing the suit nobody cares.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31You can walk right up to me and hug me and there is no bubble.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33There is no, like, "Oh, I might hurt you!"
0:03:33 > 0:03:36The first time I used this suit my parents came
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and I was able to hug them for the first time in who knows how long.
0:03:40 > 0:03:40Yeah...
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Suit X was borne out of this robotics laboratory.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45They recognised many people could not afford to access exoskeletons
0:03:45 > 0:03:48for physical therapy and set about designing one with a comparatively
0:03:48 > 0:03:49cheap price tag, $40,000 US.
0:03:49 > 0:04:11It only weighs 27 lbs.
0:04:11 > 0:04:1112-13 kg.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15It has a battery pack that only weighs two lbs and allows you to
0:04:15 > 0:04:16use it all day, 4-8 hours.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18We have an active knee.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21That means when I stand up my knee doesn't bend and I fall.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24It has other properties that allows the knee to bend when I am walking
0:04:24 > 0:04:30so it makes it look natural.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33As you might have seen when he was walking, the terrain,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35there is debris, rocks, cracks in the sidewalk.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38What is cool about our system is it can naturally
0:04:38 > 0:04:39handle things like that.
0:04:39 > 0:04:53Fall prevention.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55The system is commanded through a wireless crutch.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58What is neat about this system is it can be attached to anything.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02So, if you had a walker it can be connected to the walker.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04This allows you to communicate to your device.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06If you wanna make a step you can make one.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10And we can also talk to a tablet at the same time in real-time.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13So we can get somebody up in the device quickly, tune the parameters
0:05:13 > 0:05:16to where their natural posture is supposed to look like, and then see
0:05:16 > 0:05:18how they are progressing.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21The other devices make me feel like I'm riding the robot.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24But with this device I can move certain aspects of the machine
0:05:24 > 0:05:27around without it trying to do something that I don't want to.
0:05:27 > 0:05:40While the device is giving Stephen and others testing it freedom,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42it will not replace wheelchairs for its users yet.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45But it could be critical in physical therapy sessions and allow people
0:05:45 > 0:05:56with paralysis to experience the sensation of walking.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59In my world, what I would be using this device for is every day
0:05:59 > 0:06:02in my life I would keep them on and then probably every couple
0:06:02 > 0:06:06of hours also put on the device, get up, stand up, walk around for
0:06:06 > 0:06:07ten minutes, that is all I want.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11That relief right there will give me ten years of my life back.
0:06:11 > 0:06:11LAUGHTER.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Pending FDA approval, Suit X is hoping to have 30 suits
0:06:14 > 0:06:19ready by this summer.
0:06:19 > 0:06:29MUSIC.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Do you ever get the feeling that tech billionaires
0:06:31 > 0:06:32are getting younger?
0:06:32 > 0:06:32Hmm...
0:06:32 > 0:06:35The developer world descended on the massive Googleplex in California to
0:06:35 > 0:06:36hear about their latest products.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39But before that, a day for children to learn how to code with robots.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42But once the adults had arrived, it was time to get
0:06:42 > 0:06:44down to the new stuff.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46This is a slightly Cockney-inspired app called Allo that has
0:06:46 > 0:06:49a chat box which is claimed by Google to be intelligent enough
0:06:49 > 0:06:52to predict what you might say based on what it knows about you.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55You can also ask Google specific questions or make it do things
0:06:55 > 0:07:15like book a table or order food.
0:07:15 > 0:07:16Does that sound familiar?
0:07:16 > 0:07:16It is!
0:07:16 > 0:07:17Facebook has something very similar.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21You can talk to Allo through the new Google Home Device you can
0:07:21 > 0:07:23put in your kitchen and shout instructions at.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25If that sounds familiar, it is because it is.
0:07:25 > 0:07:38Amazon already has Echo.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40Google also announced Daydream, a new VR system powered by Google
0:07:40 > 0:07:41smartphones.
0:07:41 > 0:07:42If that sounds familiar...
0:07:42 > 0:07:42Well, you're right.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45They are late and both of those areas represent threats to
0:07:45 > 0:07:46their business.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50It is crucial they come back.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53That said, if Google I/O is useful for one
0:07:53 > 0:07:56thing, it is showing just how many huge ideas this company has.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58In case you thought Google was just a search engine,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01let's look at what we have today/ Machine learning, artificial
0:08:01 > 0:08:03intelligence, self driving cars, virtual reality, and of course, they
0:08:03 > 0:08:05are sending balloons up into space.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07This is their effort to send an Internet-enabling ballon
0:08:07 > 0:08:07into near-space.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10This one, which I think looks like a massive peeled orange,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14is a miniature version of the real one, which is four times as big.
0:08:14 > 0:08:29It is designed to provide wireless Internet to four billion people
0:08:29 > 0:08:33around the world and make them last longer than our average of 72 days.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35What is more interesting is Project Tango.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Devices with Project Tango are aware of their surroundings
0:08:37 > 0:08:40so it can scan what is around it and offer useful ways of interacting.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43You can get your hands on Project Tango-enabled devices later
0:08:43 > 0:08:54this year.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Google designers will be excited to work with it...
0:08:57 > 0:08:57After a nap.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00In last week's programme, we had entries in the first
0:09:00 > 0:09:01Robotic Art Competition.
0:09:01 > 0:09:01A challenge to find the best robotic artist,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Meanwhile, back at Berkeley, in California, it is time to get back
0:09:14 > 0:09:24to the people who are trying to bring about the rise of the robots.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Meanwhile, back at UC Berkeley, Dr Sven is in the house
0:09:27 > 0:09:29and attempting to sew up a patient.
0:09:29 > 0:09:29Here it comes.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31So good, grab this needle with this...oh,
0:09:31 > 0:09:32for goodness sake.
0:09:32 > 0:09:33Sorry, I will make another hole.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35I'm using a da Vinci robot.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Something which surgeons now routinely use to perform
0:09:37 > 0:09:38surgical tasks like suturing.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Sometimes remote controlling it from another location
0:09:40 > 0:09:42but more often, it is used just steady the hand movements
0:09:42 > 0:09:47in the more delicate of procedures.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50This is a computer sewing up a wound all on its own.
0:09:50 > 0:09:51How hard is this?
0:09:51 > 0:09:54You have to manipulate a needle that is a very small and we
0:09:54 > 0:09:56have a thread that is deformable.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59All of this is being operated in a tissue that we have no model about.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01We have no touch feedback.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04So think of it like this, it is equal to performing very
0:10:04 > 0:10:07complex tasks when your hands are really numb and you can barely see.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09It is a combunation of a computer-vision system
0:10:09 > 0:10:15which tracks the needle - bright yellow to make that bit
0:10:15 > 0:10:18easier - and advanced computer modelling which tries to predict the
0:10:18 > 0:10:20behaviour of that twizeerly thread and the flippy-floppy tissue - both
0:10:20 > 0:10:32technical terms, trust me.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Suturing is a fairly repetitive and simple low-skill task that
0:10:34 > 0:10:37happens very often and you want to give a surgeon a break
0:10:37 > 0:10:40so that the surgeon can perform or focus his attention on more
0:10:40 > 0:10:41important things in the surgery.
0:10:41 > 0:10:53While the low-level things can be done automatically.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55The term low level is, of course, relative.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Not many of us have what it takes to do this with their own hands,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02let alone what feels like a pair of remote boxing gloves.
0:11:02 > 0:11:03It is totally the wrong way!
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Am I putting the blunt end in?
0:11:05 > 0:11:05Yes.
0:11:05 > 0:11:05LAUGHTER.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Oh, my gosh, I am so sorry.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10What a thoroughly beautiful place this is to study, isn't it?
0:11:10 > 0:11:12I have a feeling we will be coming back
0:11:12 > 0:11:13here in the not-too-distant future.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17I hope you enjoyed our look around UC Berkeley, all the backstage fun
0:11:17 > 0:11:18and photos are available on Twitter.
0:11:18 > 0:11:46We will see you soon.