At their 2018 Microsoft Research Faculty Summit Microsoft showed off a robot which achieved the holy grail of computing – being able to retrieve a beer from the fridge when asked to.

Based on a combination of local and remote processing, the robot is able to simulate actions in virtual reality to make sure they are safe before actually performing them, allowing it to safely complete complex tasks.

Ostensibly to help receptionists with their daily tasks (such as apparently getting drinks from the fridge) the robot will also be able to sense when the receptionist needs help, speak to and answer questions from visitors and offer the receptionist the benefit of its deep database of knowledge, in other words, more or less Clippy come to life.

See the robot in action in Microsoft’s video below.

Via Walkingcat