Deb Roy demonstrates Toco the robot, a precursor to RIpley

Alan meets Ripley — a robot that consists of an arm and a hand with eyes and that tries to understand the world around it. That world is pretty much constrained to a white tabletop, a few objects on the table and — at least while Alan is visiting — Alan's face. Ripley, like a human infant, is learning what things are not just by giving them a name but by experiencing them. In this segment, for instance, the robot responds to Alan's request to "pick up the heavy one" by in effect weighing the two objects on the table in front of it.