All Tech Considered

When a person places a finger in the slot on the left, the robot uses an algorithm — unpredictable even to its creator — to decide whether to prick the finger with the pin on the end of its arm. Alexander Reben hide caption

W. H. Richards and A.H. Reffell built Eric in 1928. The Science Museum estimates it will take expert roboticist Giles Walker three months to reconstruct him. Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images hide caption

The robotic skull of a T-600 cyborg used in the movie Terminator 3. Eduardo Parra/Getty Images hide caption

Fernando Boiteux tosses Emily, a remote-controlled lifesaving device, into the waters off the shore of the Greek island of Lesbos. Boiteux, an assistant fire chief from Los Angeles, is helping train Greek first responders to use Emily. Joanna Kakissis for NPR hide caption

UmmaGawd (Tommy Tibajia), a pilot in the Drone Racing League, flies his quadcopter in an abandoned power plant in New York. The Drone Racing League hide caption

A row of Google self-driving Lexus cars at a Google event in Mountain View, Calif. The cars use sensors and computing power to maneuver around traffic. Eric Risberg/AP hide caption

The robot from Florida-based Team IHMC Robotics takes a tumble as it tries to walk over rubble. This team came in second place and won a $1 million prize. DARPA Robotics Challenge hide caption

The German service robot Toomas was designed to welcome customers and help them find items in a store. Joerg Sarbach/AP hide caption

Shoppers view and take photographs of humanoid robot "Chihira" at the information reception desk of Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo. Chris McGrath/Getty Images hide caption

DAR-1 is one of the many social robots with facial recognition abilities on display for the robot petting zoo at the South by Southwest interactive festival. Jack Plunkett/AP hide caption

Kiva robots maneuver around one of Amazon's newest distribution centers on Sunday in Tracy, Calif. Brandon Bailey/AP hide caption

The TALON MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System) can be transformed from a weaponized robot to one with an arm and gripper by changing out its modules. PRNewsFoto/Foster-Miller Inc. hide caption

A BigDog robot at Boston Dynamics in 2010. The BigDog is being developed to help soldiers carry heavy equipment in the field. It can follow a human being, walking across wet/sandy/rocky terrain, just like a dog would. Suzanne Kreiter/Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption

Expect Labs' MindMeld app uses predictive computing to push information to us, instead of us having to ask. Courtesy of Expect Labs hide caption

The RoboRoach device allows users to influence the movements of cockroaches with a smartphone. Backyard Brains hide caption