The Future of Robotics, As Forbes Sees It

The Forbes web site started a new column about the future of robotics. Unlike other news sources, instead of focusing on the latest technological advances and research, they are interested in the real-world application of robotic technology. In other words, they will describe how robotic companies are using the technology to create practical applications in the heath, military and entertainment industries. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAnHjuTQF3M It is large investors like Grishin Robotics, and the popular success of Curiosity which lead Forbes to the conclusion that personal robotics will develop rapidly in the next 2o years:

With trail blazers like Helen Grenier and Colin Angle from iRobot making us more accepting of robots by putting them in our homes to clean, Willow Garage pushing the boundaries of technology with new companies like Open Perception (Point Cloud Technology), Redwood Robotics and Robots for Humanity, legacy roboticists like Henry Thorne from 4Moms and inventor of one of the first personal robots, transferring robotic technology to transform a stroller, Primesense’s 3D sensors giving the gift of sight to machines; Alexandre Lebrun of VirtuOz and Bruno Maisonnier, Aldebaran-Robotics both fighting to keep France on the map to newcomers like Eric Stackpole and David Lang from OpenRov using Kickstarter to crowd-source their funding, Andrea Thomaz, from Georgia Tech Socially Intelligent Research Lab; Cory Kidd from Intuitive Automata and 20-year old newcomer, David Luan, a Peter Thiel Fellow, robotics is about to have its place in the spotlight. -- Jennifer Hicks, Forbes

Are you as excited as we are about the future of robotics? What is the robotic advance that you would like to see the most. Via Forbes.