Shadow hand

Wired's NextFest, which describes itself as a "new world's fair," took place Thursday through Sunday in Los Angeles. It offered more than 160 exhibits from researchers and inventors worldwide.

Here, a child takes a cautious approach when touching the Shadow Hand, a robotic hand that moves by "air muscles." Created by London-based Shadow Robot Co., the hand has 34 tactile sensors in the tips to sense touch. The computer tells the air muscles (rubber tubing) when to inflate or deflate to create movement.

Matthew Godden, senior robotics-design engineer for Shadow, said the hand costs more than $100,000, but the company has already sold one to Carnegie Mellon University and NASA. Future applications are to build robots with dexterous hands that can do the dangerous work for people, like bomb disposal, Godden said.