Photos: Humanoid robots come to life at MIT

Domo is the robot developed by Aaron Edsinger, a member of the Humanoid Robotics Group, who just completed his PhD while working under Brooks. He spent three years of his life developing this partner robot to work alongside or aid a person.

Most of the computer power behind Domo (seen in the background) goes to its vision, which are two cameras positioned as eyes on the robot. Domo's "eyes" can detect human faces and track them, as well as helping it to find and handle objects. Tapping it on the arm, for example, will prompt Domo to move its arm and look down to see what's touching it and then look up at the person. It responds to human voice commands.