TechASK BBN
Swiss researchers unveil robot hand that walks on its fingers
ETH Zurich's hand has five fingers and twenty joints, and typed the right key twenty-nine times in thirty-two; it never needed an arm.
On air: Gloria Vance and Hank Ledger on BBN NewsroomPublished
Photo: Phenoptix · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0Watch it as it aired: Gloria Vance and Hank Ledger on this story, from BBN Newsroom at 2:11 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are UPI's, the jokes are ours.
At a glance
- First reported by UPI: “Watch: Swiss researchers unveil robot hand that walks on its fingers”, with reporting from TweakTown, arXiv, Daily Beirut, ENGtechnica and GaGadget.
- Covered on BBN on Friday, October 30, 2026, at 2:11 PM ET on BBN Newsroom, by Gloria Vance and Hank Ledger.
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- UPIWatch: Swiss researchers unveil robot hand that walks on its fingers
- TweakTownResearchers built a disembodied robotic hand that walks on its fingertips, types, and pushes objects facts used on air
- arXivFingers as Legs: Learning Self-Supported Locomotion and Manipulation with an Anthropomorphic Hand facts used on air
- Daily BeirutETH Zurich Robotic Hand Walks Across 14 Surfaces · Daily Beirut facts used on air
- ENGtechnicaWalking Robotic Hand Turns Fingers Into Legs and Manipulators - ENGtechnica facts used on air
- GaGadgetETH Zurich built a robotic hand that walks on its fingers facts used on air
What BBN said about it
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorResearchers in Switzerland built a robot hand with no arm that walks on its fingertips, and UPI says it's a very spooky season project.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorWhat exactly is it walking toward?
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNine centimeters a second, across fourteen surfaces, gravel and grass included. It also types, hitting the right key twenty-nine times out of thirty-two.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorDoes this affect me? Because it's nine centimeters a second and I'm in a very long hallway.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNot yet. The team pictures it crawling into a confined space a full robot can't enter.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorA hand, alone, in a small space. And the research was tested on Sokoban.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWhen it fell over, it got back up in twenty-one of twenty-five tries. That's better than my record.
More Shorts
All videos →
Photo: miumiu熊 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Jiří Sedláček · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Robert.Harker · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: LA2 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Coolcaesar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Friday, October 30, 2026 · the Tech archive · all months
More in Tech
All Tech →Hisense UR8 RGB MiniLED TV: Midrange Quality, Upscale Color Accuracy
Wired says the UR8 is cheaper than its rivals and nails color accuracy, while TechRadar's tester found the colors lacked the vibrancy they'd hoped…
Meta quietly launches an AI fashion app called Style Sketch
The app, live in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, also plans day-by-day trip outfits around the weather forecast; Meta has not said where it goes…
Snap's $2,195 Specs AR glasses reviewed, push-ups included
Snap's Specs come in two sizes and run about four hours on a charge; the reviewer's best praise is that they stay on your face.
Electric screwdriver uses a camera and AI to pick your bit
Arrowmax's Arrowspace S1 comes with a fifty-two-bit case that lights up the right bit; maker says it won't ship before April twenty twenty-seven.