In a few years time the Droids from Star Wars are going to seem like relics. Today's robots might be better suited for sewing clothes and building cars, but tomorrow's could be as indispensable and ubiquitous as our smartphones are. A group of researchers in Europe recently published a white paper unveiling their experiments in teaching robots to anticipate human movements. The team's work, to create "robots that can predict human actions and intent, and understand human non-verbal cues," could pave the way for innumerable advances in the field. The researchers focused on combining previous research teaching AI to understand human gaze and pose, both of which are crucial for robots to understand in order for them to work with humans.

Researchers from the New Jersey Institute of Technology taught a robot how to use a pair of nunchucks. The research was part of a machine learning experiment that would require a robot to handle complex objects consisting of a combination of parts with different materials and rigidities. This type of machine learning could be applied to other fields where delicate precision is required such as car interior fitting or fruit picking. You can read more about it in the research paper here.