"The evolution of the robot itself has been way too slow on all fronts, whether on mechanical design, controls or programming interface," Derby said. "I think this paper is important. It fits in with the whole spectrum of things that need to happen in getting people and robots to work next to each other."

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at , on or subscribe to . Her email address is .

See .

in Computerworld's Emerging Technologies Topic Center.