The image rotated, its focus shifting to two of the smaller silver cylinders that budded from Delores’s cylindrical core, one on the left and one on the right. Smaller objects, shaped like small vises, sprouted from their ends.
“A wonderful presentation, to be sure, Chase, of a truly impressive device,” the Turner CEO said. “Does the real Delores respond to voice commands?”
“Oh, yes. The speech recognition is state-of-the-art. Don’t be fooled, though, by her friendly persona. Delores can’t think. She’s simply been programmed to respond within a range of straightforward questions and commands. Delores, is it correct that you can’t think on your own?”
“I think that’s subject to opinion, Dr. Montgomery.”
“These two mechanisms,” Montgomery said over the resulting laughter, “a right one and a left one, secure Dolores to the operating table. We affectionately call them the feet—the left foot goes on the patient’s left side, right foot on the right. Small, magnetized clamps at the bottom of the feet attach Delores to the operating table. Gyroscopic stabilizers keep everything completely steady. We estimate that the stabilizers can handle up to a magnitude 7.0 earthquake without Delores’s moving so much as a millimeter. A convenient safety feature here in Southern California.”
There were a few approving chuckles. Montgomery said, “In addition, Delores’s feet can adapt themselves for use on any type of surface. Even on rough ground.”
“Why incorporate that kind of feature into its design?”
“Because, Ms. Grant, we envision a day when Delores will be used routinely outside of the operating room. The world’s first fully mobile surgical robot.”
“Seems awfully complicated to cart around.”
“On the contrary. Delores is small, light, and portable. Easily assembled by a single person. And battery-powered for up to eight hours of use.”
“I understand you’ve received funding from the Department of Defense,” Grant pressed.
“Yes. We’re proud of that. Think how many of our brave young men and women in uniform we could eventually save with Delores deployed on the front lines. But that’s only a fraction of Delores’s potential. Humanitarian medical missions. Routine care for remote communities or ships at sea. The possibilities are limitless.”
Damn, but the man can really shovel it.
Sebastian glanced at his watch and sucked his teeth. By now it was clear that nothing else in this morning’s schedule was going to change, and Montgomery’s spiel was wearing thin. Sebastian knew all about the goddamn robot. Delores was key to the job at hand. Finney had provided him with detailed schematics, and a working model, and he’d studied them inside and out. Hell, he could have delivered the presentation better than Montgomery. But if he left now, he’d attract unwanted attention.
He shifted in his seat and wondered what was going on with Wu.
Montgomery stretched his smile wider, and said, “Now. Delores, tell us about your camera.”
“Of course.”
The image zoomed in on a single cylinder.
Delores said, “My camera combines high-definition digital video with state-of-the-art ultrasound technology. The images are beamed to video monitors so that operating personnel may observe and supervise my movements. My onboard computer creates a real-time, three-dimensional map so that I may adjust my movements in accordance with variations in anatomy and blood flow.”
“Delores analyzes the patient’s individual anatomy more accurately than any human surgeon,” Montgomery said. “Delores can detect structures, like blood vessels, that can’t be seen by the human eye, which enhances precision and safety.”
Montgomery’s eyes darted to the side. The PR man and woman materialized from the shadows at the front of the amphitheater. Each held a silver cylinder the length of a baseball bat with circumferential joints spaced along their entire length at two-inch intervals. The man went to the back row of the room; the woman remained in the front.
“Now. This part I’m really excited about. Delores, tell us about your arms.”
“Of course.” The image zoomed in on the three last cylinders, which projected from the central body in parallel. Several small objects—including a small pair of scissors, and a scalpel—protruded from their tips.
“My arms are flexible, precision surgical platforms, each of which contains all of the basic instruments necessary for the performance of any operation: scalpel, electrocautery scissors, needle driver, retractor, suction, irrigation. The microservers in my arms allow me to instantaneously switch from one instrument to another.”
“We call them Swiss Armies,” Montgomery said. The man sitting next to Sebastian chuckled and bobbed his head in understanding. “We’re quite proud of them. There’s nothing else like them in the world. The circular joints allow the arms to bend in any direction. They can work around corners. And, for the first time, ever, every surgical instrument combined into a single tool. Amber and Paul are handing some examples out. Feel free to have a look, then pass it along to your neighbor.”