Robot Factory

Dr. Leila Takayama is probably the best person to speak with about the past, present, and future of robotics. Oddly enough, this fact is most supported by her deep expertise with distinctly human behavior. On the surface, a cognitive scientist devoting her career to moving boxes of bolts might sound contradictory. (We joke, robots.) Humans are one thing; robots are quite another. But if these sophisticated machines are ever to be fully integrated into society, then it makes sense to figure out how people best react to them. After all, humans are the ones building and designing them, and as Takayama explains, “the more time you spend with robots, the more you realize they really, really need us.” She works for a Silicon Valley-based robotics firm – robot factory, really – called Willow Garage. As one of the few firms specializing in open-source software for robotics, they are paying homage to a legacy of innovation rooted in the area and ensuring a day in the near future when we might all have a personal robot of our own.

Learn more about Leila Takayama HERE. And check out a "deleted scene" HERE!

Produced by Brady Welch / Camera by Mike Seely / Editing and Sound by John Kane / Production Assistance by Jay Ramiro / Music by Phil Manley