All Tech Considered

An attendant wearing an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset demonstrates a glove with a Yamaha Corp. rubber-like sensor at the Wearable Expo in Tokyo, on Jan. 13. Bloomberg via 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

While other automakers are working on a gradual progression toward more automation in cars, Google has its eyes on a fully automated self-driving car. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

Rice University's FlatCam is thinner than a dime. Jeff Fitlow/Rice University hide caption

Dave Rauchwerk is CEO of Next Thing Co., which makes the CHIP computer. Laura Sydell/NPR hide caption

The plastic sheet invented by Stanford University chemical engineer Zhenan Bao and her colleagues can be inserted in lithium-ion batteries to avoid overheating. Zheng Chen/Courtesy of Zhenan Bao hide caption

BOCCO the robot. Yukai Engineering hide caption

Steam rises from the stacks of the coal-fired Jim Bridger Power Plant outside Point of the Rocks, Wyo., in March 2014. Jim Urquhart/Reuters/Landov hide caption

People sample the Oculus-made Samsung Gear VR Virtually Reality headset Sept. 24 in Hollywood, Calif., at the Oculus Connect 2 event. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

An illustration shows what a helicopter drone would look like on the surface of Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption