A Long Goodbye to Baxter, a Gentle Giant Among Robots

For a serious research robot, Baxter is a charmer. Its face is a flat screen that telegraphs "feelings" like embarrassment (rosy cheeks, upturned eyebrows). If you're so inclined, you can sit in front of it and make it read your mind to fix its mistakes. Or you can point to objects for it to pick up. If it gets confused, it can actually ask you for clarification, a seemingly simple interaction that's in fact a big deal for the budding field of human-robot communication.