Japanese Robotic System Shows Off Impressively Fast Movement and Dexterity

Researchers at the University of Tokyo's Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory have developed a robotic arm and sensor system that is capable of performing some amazing sleight of hand tricks. Using a high speed tracking camera and tactile sensors on the fingers, the robot does millisecond bouncing of ping pong balls, pen spinning, and even throwing and re-grabbing a mobile phone.

Now imagine being humbled at table tennis while playing with an amputee equipped with one of these. Or, perhaps, Intuitive Surgical should take a look at this technology for its upcoming da Vinci systems.