Its sonar vision is so precise that it can tell whether a coin is showing heads or tails. The robot has electrostatic transducers that emit and receive sound waves. The ears and emitter are mounted on a movable arm, so that the whole robot can aim in different directions. The robot's inventor, Yale professor Roman Kuc, says the next step is to give the robot a mobile body so that it can explore its environment.
Sonar vision is simpler in some ways than vision by light.
Sonar images are three-dimensional, which might make them good for uses such as security devices, like a device to recognize people by the exact shape of their face.