The device named "Spark" flew high above the man on stage with his hands waving in the direction of the flying object. In a demonstration of DJI's newest drone, the audience marveled at the Coke can-sized device's most compelling feature: gesture controls. Instead of a traditional remote control, this flying selfie machine follows hand movements across the sky. Gestures are the most innate language of mammals, and including robots in our primal movements means we have reached a new milestone of co-existence. Madeline Gannon of Carnegie Mellon University is the designer of Mimus, a new gesture controlled robot featured in an art installation at The Design Museum in London, England.

The creators of Mimus, a 1,200-kg (2646 lbs.) industrial robot that can sense and respond to human movement, believe it's possible. Part art-installation, part display of engineering ingenuity, Mimus was created from an ABB IRB 6700 robot and commissioned for the "Fear and Love" exhibit at The Design Museum with the goal of promoting companionship between humans and machines. The robot's creator notes that this particular machine is more like a "she" than an "it." Most industrial robots are made to perform repetitive tasks, but Mimus has no pre-planned movements and is instead programmed to freely explore the space around her and to interact with visitors. The exhibit designers wanted to replicate the experience of seeing a large, exotic animal at a zoo.

For years London's Design Museum got by in a former banana warehouse near Tower Bridge. Now it has moved to a cool, minimalist home in Kensington. The new building is much bigger. It will offer, says the director, far more to intrigue all visitors - and not just the hardcore design fans. In 1962 the Queen opened the Commonwealth Institute on the leafy fringes of Holland Park in London.